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(Enlarge) From left, Darnelle Kirby, a rising senior at Wilde Lake High School, and David Gourdine, a rising senior at Centennial High School, troubleshoot their robot as Emily Scheerer, a rising senior at Howard High School, takes pictures. The students, participating in the Engineering Pathways Program, presented their robot during a special event for family and friends at Howard Community College July 23. (Staff photo by Nicole Martyn)

That's how a functioning robot is born, according to Consuelo Stewart.

Stewart, a math professor at Howard Community College, helped teach this concept to students in a summer engineering program. And it took many a redesign for the students' robots to successfully navigate an obstacle course at the end of the program last week.

Typing commands into a computer for the third try, John Tapp, a senior at Mt. Hebron High School, guided his team's robot through a series of maneuvers July 23. The robot -- a gray tangle of Lego pieces with four wheels -- deftly lowered its crane-like claw to pick up a foam block and carried it to its destination over a small wooden wall.

The seemingly simple task was the product of weeks of math and tinkering.

"Originally we called this guy 'Failure' because he just wasn't working properly," Tapp said of the robot. "But now I'm just so relieved to be done, even if it wasn't perfect."

Tapp was one of eight local high school seniors to participate in the college's three-week Engineering Pathways Program, designed to boost students' calculus skills.

College officials created the program, which uses a grant from the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, after noticing many students needed greater preparation before entering the college's engineering program, said Cindy Peterka, the college's vice president of Student Services.

"We found that a lot of students entering the engineering program at HCC were not calculus ready," Peterka said. "I wanted to jump-start the high school student's learning so that they would be more prepared. ... We used the robotics project to spark and maintain an interest in engineering."

To qualify for the program, worth two college credits, each student had to have a grade-point average of 2.8 or higher and a B average or better in all high school mathematics courses. An emphasis was placed on attracting minority students with an interest in the fields of math and engineering.

Perseverance is key

Team "Last Minute" learned a few valuable lessons about teamwork while creating their robot.

"The first day, we thought we were ahead, we had so many really good ideas, but we just couldn't apply them," said David Gourdine, a senior at Centennial High School.

His teammate, Darnelle Kirby, of Wilde Lake High School, added, "We thought we knew more than we did. We just got ahead of ourselves."

Gourdine worked on the robot's base, while Kirby worked on the claw, but they soon realized that they would be more effective if they worked together.

"Our communication was definitely a problem," Gourdine said. "We would each make great individual parts, but together they just didn't work. We finally figured it out by the end though."

But the students never let their frustration get them down.

"We just keep doing it, and if it fails ... we'll do it over," Kirby said.

In the end, the team's robot was able to lift the block and spin it to the other side of the wall. However, the robot stopped unexpectedly before it put the block down again.

Perseverance was key because only one of the five teams' robots completed the task on the first try. But no team gave up.

Dean Sheridan, an engineering teacher at Glenelg High School and an adjunct professor at HCC, assisted the students with mastering the robot's gears and distributing the device's weight.

"Arnold," a robot designed by Marriotts Ridge seniors Jacob Beschner and Hus Zia, relied on strategically positioned batteries to maintain a center of gravity. Arnold turned out to be one of the most successful robots of the bunch, complete with three programs allowing it to pick up a heavy weight and do what Beschner and Zia called a "victory dance," which consisted of moving its claw up, down, left and right.

Peterka said the college hopes to expand the program next year, eventually including up to 24 students per session.

"This program is great because it not only maintains interest, but it gives the students confidence as learners while providing math skill development," she said. "But we know that it takes time to establish a program. It takes time for people to see value in it."

Added Sheridan: "It's a big sign to us that the kids want to come to school in the middle of July. They're giving up a big chunk of their summer to be here, that tells us something."

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