My name is Kirk Lazenby. I am a senior taking my last semester at SUU. At the end of this semester, I will be graduating with Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology with a CAD/CAM concentration.

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I am mentoring and coaching an FTC (first tech challenge) Robotics team. A team includes kid both boys and girls between the ages of 12 to 18 years old. The team will have to design, build, and program a robot. The robot is constructed to complete tasks that are defined by the Game Design Committee (GDC). GDC members are volunteers from various fields, including science, technology, and engineering. This year’s game is called Relic Recovery. One of the tasks includes robots to decipher pictures so that patterns of colored blocks can be stacked correctly by the robot. After 30 seconds of preprogrammed movements, is a 2-minute driver control period where the drivers should try to stack more blocks. At the end of this time is a 30-second end of round section, where drivers need to grab the relic and try to position it to the furthest outside platform. I have been working with the Atomic Randomizers team 10290. We have been fundraising, tearing apart last year’s robot, thinking about new designs for this year’s robot, making models to check design elements, and researching different items to incorporate into our robot. The team is also working on completing an engineering notebook which will walk the judges through this year’s team experiences, both good and bad, and how they dealt with the problems encountered this year.

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After this semester, I will be looking for a job in my new career field. I will try to keep all the lessons learned through this project close to my heart and mind. I would like to continue to teach these eager young kids to learn and apply the skills in their futures.