{"id":3263,"date":"2020-05-01T16:32:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-01T20:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/academic\/?p=3263"},"modified":"2026-03-26T08:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T12:14:16","slug":"first-robotics-lake-monsters-win-chairmans-award-for-community-outreach-amid-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/academic\/first-robotics-lake-monsters-win-chairmans-award-for-community-outreach-amid-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"FIRST Robotics’ Lake Monsters win Chairman’s Award for community outreach amid COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oregon FIRST<\/em> Robotics team, The Lake Monsters, leverage success in hospital outreach during COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By:\nHannah Straub<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake Oswego, Oregon <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the coronavirus outbreak, many schools and student teams around the world have had to abide by stay-at-home orders and social distancing standards, completely inhibiting their ability to work and collaborate. The Lake Monsters of Lake Oswego, Oregon are no exception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lake Monsters Robotics<\/a>, comprised of students from Lakeridge and Lake Oswego High Schools, build robots to compete in the international FIRST<\/em> Robotics Competition each year, combining the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cRobotics is an after-school, extra-curricular activity, so students are there because they want to be. I enjoy hearing about their interests and helping them navigate the worlds of high school, robotics, and life,\u201d says Darrell Teegarden of Mentor Graphics, a Siemens business. Teegarden has been a mentor with the Lake Monsters since 2008. After an introductory meeting with his high-school-age son about starting an FRC team at Lakeridge High School, he was hooked and has been with the team ever since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lake Monsters use the Mentor\nGraphics SystemVision<\/a> as a tool for modeling and simulating closed-loop\ncontrol of motor systems. The team has connected with high school robotics\nstudents as summer interns to develop robotics modeling applications and learn\nhow to develop cloud-based software. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re also exploring the use of Solid Edge 3D CAD tools, as\nCAD tools are of critical importance to our robotics development process,\u201d says\nTeegarden. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With the help of Teegarden and 10 other mentors, the Lake\nMonsters have known much success not only in competitions but in the community.\nIn the last two years, the Lake Monsters have continuously done outreach\nprojects with Doernbecher Children\u2019s Hospital, Sacred Heart Hospital, Salem\nHospital, and three Ronald MacDonald houses in the Portland area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the end of my sophomore year, I saw what was happening in marketing, and that because we get so much support from our sponsors and from FIRST<\/em> in general, we had a great outlet to be able to impact our community much more than just building robots,\u201d says Nikki Littler , a 4th<\/sup>-year marketing lead and member of the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The POWR Outreach Project was created with the goal to reach\nan underserved population by providing STEM education, relief, and normalcy\nduring an extremely hard time in their lives. The Lake Monsters have\ndistributed 1,050 make-and-take robots, and four EV3s to these children\u2019s\nhospitals to provide positivity and control to these children facing\nsignificant medical conditions and lengthy hospital stays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI pretty much grew up in hospitals because I had club feet\nand I was deaf and I knew there was some way we could bring STEM to these\nhospitals, where these kids don\u2019t have much control and feel helpless. Once we\nstarted doing outreach, we had a parent of a patient at Doernbecher\u2019s sit in on\na meeting just to feel better, and at that point I knew what we were doing was\nworking,\u201d says Hayley Lindsay, a 3rd<\/sup> year electrical lead and member\nof the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Due to their outreach efforts, the team has been awarded a FIRST<\/em> Robotics Chairman’s Award<\/a>, the most prestigious award given to FIRST<\/em> Robotics teams. It honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the mission of FIRST.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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