Professional engineers pair with students to build robots )site broke link so I removed it)

The nonprofit Alpine Robotics pairs high school students with professional engineers from companies such as Hewlett Packard and LSI to build a robot. The task: design and build a robot that can move around a track and shoot a ball off a platform as part of the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST, Robotics competition.
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Beyond the language of vectors, mass and physics, these students are learning real-life tools of team building, time management and meeting deadlines – crucial elements to life in college and the work force.
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Jon Anderson’s experience in Alpine Robotics has propelled him to apply to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a top science and technology school in Massachusetts, to study robotics. He’s also taking math classes at Colorado State University.

Kevin Mendoza is relying on this for his future. “Most high schools don’t offer really good things that help people with engineering minds,” said Mendoza, 16

Related: Underwater robot competition generating interest among students – US FIRST