Gearheads build 'Howie' the robot

By Laura Larson, parent booster

Congratulations to the Gearheads robotics team on their 2014 competition season. The team is comprised of students from both North and South High Schools; their faculty adviser, Mr. Pata; mentors and parents. Together, they built a robot in six weeks that shoots large exercise balls through a goal and over a truss in the middle of the playing field, assists other robots on their alliance and plays defense against the opposing team, much like a sporting event. The Gearheads competed in three district competitions and the Michigan FIRST Robotics State Championship, for which they qualified the second year in a row. They have won numerous spirit awards and this year were the recipients of the General Motors Industrial Design Award which “celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge.”

The Gearheads is one of over 5,000 high school robotics teams belonging to the FIRST robotics program, an international organization founded by inventor, Dean Kamen in 1989 to inspire high school students in engineering and technology. FIRST also offers college scholarships to students from the program who are going into the STEM fields.

The Gearheads will be making an appearance at Brownell and Pierce middle schools in May where they will demonstrate what the robot, “Howie” can do. This was a big hit last year when they brought the 2013 robot, “Odd Job” to the middle schools and shot Frisbees through a goal.

The Gearheads would like to thank their sponsors; General Motors, Grosse Pointe Rotary Club, Grosse Pointe Sunrise Rotary Club, Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education, Grosse Pointe Public School System, Dassault Systemes, Peninsula Capital Partners L.L.C., Accenture, Grosse Pointe Moms Club, State of Michigan, Festo, Grosse Pointe North Parents Club, Mothers’ Club of Grosse Pointe South, Auto Form Engineering.

The Gearheads invite you to visit their website.