I had a chance to connect with Izzy Thalman, a robotics student at Arizona State University and mentor to FIRST<\/em> Robotics team #6413, Degrees of Freedom<\/strong><\/a>, to learn a bit about her personal journey and some of the team\u2019s amazing accomplishments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Team 6413 Degrees of Freedom, is an all-girls team that was originally started through the generous support of The Si Se Puede foundation<\/a> and includes students from across grades 8-12. Thalman described all the team members as very independent, hard-working and dedicated. Last year, that hard work paid off when the team won FIRST\u2019s Chairman\u2019s Award at the Northern Arizona Regional qualifying them for the Houston Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a full-time student, with a demanding workload, I wondered why Izzy dedicates an average of 6-12 hours per week (in the off season) to mentor and teach the Degrees of Freedom girls.\u00a0 It turns out there are a lot of reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thalman was first introduced to engineering when she was just in the seventh grade herself. While she attended Siemens\u2019 Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day event initially because she understood that engineering is a career that pays well, she quickly discovered there was much more about the field that appealed to her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt that first event, I \u2018competed\u2019 in a paper plane\nchallenge, and when my plane went the furthest, I was so excited.\u201d Thalman\nrecalled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A short time later, as a high school freshman, an esteemed Biology teacher and mentor suggested that she check out the engineering program. She\u2019s never looked back. Formerly, Thalman was involved in theater, dance and speech and was an honors English student, but with her teacher\u2019s encouragement and her own recognition that she was strong in math and science she literally switched gears.\u00a0 That year she started an engineering class and joined her high school\u2018s FIRST Robotics team, 2338 Gear it Forward.\u00a0 In rapid succession she learned principles of engineering, computer-aided design, PCB design, welding, and computer programming in Visual Basic, and in addition to spending 3-5 hours per day, 5-7 days a week working with her team.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thalman says she was very fortunate, because her high school\nteam was well-funded and supported with dedicated lab space, access to\nprofessional software and manufacturing hardware that isn\u2019t always the case for\nmany students. Today she serves as a\nshining model of what is possible through an early exposure to STEM and\npassionately shares and practices all that she\u2019s learned with her mentees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, when it comes to building robots, Thalman shared, \u201cIf you want to build a good robot, you need to \u201cCAD\u201d it. If you don\u2019t \u201cCAD\u201d your robot, it is like building blindly, and introduces room for error.\u201d\u00a0 Given that the FIRST season is a short eight-week sprint, discovering a design error during the build phase could be the difference between being competitive in the season or not.\u00a0 Interestingly, she also pointed out that having a CAD drawing is very instructive and can help students to work independently, as well as jointly in a team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In preparation for the 2020 season, Thalman will be working with her team, learning and teaching them how to use Siemens\u2019 Solid Edge\u00ae software<\/a>, a powerful 3D design tool that is available to all students for free. I asked Thalman what else she had planned for the team and she said, \u201clots of fun, laughing and bonding with the team and learning a lot.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thalman loves mentoring and views it as a welcome break from\nher demanding studies. She also\nencourages everyone<\/em> to attend a FIRST<\/em> event or consider volunteering to\nexperience it first-hand and see just how just much fun it is. She promises you\u2019ll learn a lot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visit FIRST <\/em><\/a>events<\/a> for\nschedule and locations<\/em> and be sure to follow Degrees of Freedom<\/a> this season on Twitter <\/a>@dof6413<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"FIRST](\"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2020\/01\/izzy-1-1024x1024.jpg\")
Bottom: Izzy Thalman mentoring all girls FIRST<\/em> Robotics team at 2019 Championship
(images courtesy of Kagen Photography<\/em>) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n