The week-long camp will consist of several sessions in which the participants will learn the assembling, programming, and debugging of the LEGO NTX Robotics Kits along with the necessary mathematical skills to understand the basic concepts behind their design.

 

The group will be divided into pairs. Since each pair will have its own kit, both members will have to collaborate to reach the goals set during the camp.  Each day will begin with a short lecture by the main camp counselor about topics to be covered during the day. During the whole session the participants will be advised and supervised in technical matters by the main counselor and the camp counselors. Therefore each counselor will be in charge of supervising nor more than three pairs; this will help to provide very close and personal attention to each of the participants.

 

Each session will conclude with a video conference with a successful female in an Engineering field. Some of the persons who have committed verbally to be a guest speaker are:  Dr. Patricia Nava, Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP); Dr. Ming-Ying Leung, Director of the Bioinformatics Program of UTEP, M.S. Janette Biriones, Computer Engineer at NASA and M.S. Elvia Martin del Camp, Engineer at the White Sands Missile Range. All of them have praised the originality of this camp and have enthusiastically manifested their willingness to participate on it.  We expect that by providing the participants the opportunity to speak with a woman or minority members who are highly successful in Engineering will make their opportunities to thrive in engineering more tangible. 

 

During lunch each day, participants will be given the opportunity for camp counselors to share their experiences studying engineering.

 

The short term objectives will be to teach the participants to assemble and program the LEGO NTX Robots and cover the mathematics related to the design of robots. The long term objective is to improve their confidence and interest on engineering.

 

 

                    

Day	Topic	Description
Monday                              Aug 10	Math	Assessment/Team formation and Basic Math
	Robotics	Introduction to NXT Robot and its  programming
		Video Conferencing
Tuesday Aug 11	Math	Word problems, e.g. “Speed versus Torque” and “Gear Ratios”
	Robotics	Programming: Drag racing and Tug of war
Wednesday Aug 12	Robotics	Programming using Sensors (light, sound)
		Video Conferencing
Thursday     Aug 13	Robotics	Programming using Sensors and Final Competition which will consist of the several events such as: Simple Maze, Bumper Cars, Obstacle Course, etc
Friday:           Aug 14	Closing Ceremony and Parent/Guardian Information	Final Presentation by the Guest Speaker

 

This schedule will lead to a total of 36 hours of contact hours. The Office of Recruitment at A&M-Texarkana will provide information about the University’s application process, financial aid system and scholarship opportunities on Friday during the closing ceremony.