MARS, FRC Team 1523: Work hard, think harder.

Science is the pathway to the future. It saves far more lives then Superman ever has. We are privileged to live in an age of scientific discovery.

Yet many people don’t appreciate this wonder & take for granted the changes in front of them. Students exposed to FIRST are the exception. Members of MARS FRC Team 1523 explore technology firsthand. From working with machinery, to using physics to calculate how fast a robot needs to move to throw a ball over a hurdle, our members engage in a myriad of activities that make us aware of science & its impact on the world around us.

Our team structure uses scientific methods within a real world business model. Sub-teams allow those who excel at certain areas to investigate those areas more thoroughly. In 4 years, MARS has transformed itself from a loosely organized rookie team of 17 male, mainly freshman engineering students, into a team of 43 students, including 5 females, from all of Jupiter High’s academies (including Culinary and Environmental Sciences) & even other schools.

Members sum up FIRST’s impact in a team survey. “By making mistakes and talking it through, I am learning a lot & getting some valuable experience at more realistic challenges” wrote 11th grader Matt T. “I have learned what it entails to get an idea from the drawing board to something that can be manufactured. FIRST has improved my teamwork & given me hands on experience in the design process” said 12th grader Stephen C.

1523 learns from those with more experience. Dedicated mentors offer expertise. “It’s through their help that we can function, that we can progress forward with our goals” said student Blake W. “Students & mentors learn from each other and watch design ideas become real parts and a functional robot” said mentor Bill Bonadies. This strong relationship allows MARS to succeed.

Educational opportunities are promoted. Students have participated in Autodesk classes in GA & DeVry University robot workshops. The team toured the Universities of Central & South FL while at events. All 9 MARS alumni are attending colleges, 2 with FIRST scholarships. 10th grader James C. said after 1 year with the team, “It showed me I want to go to college.” 2 alumni are interns at the engineering firm Perry Slingsby, working in IT and CAD design.

MARS helps others. Student Patrick T., fluent in German, served as a FIRST Ambassador at the ’07 Championship. 1523 assisted Duncan & Lake Worth Middle Schools with their new LEGO robot clubs. We mentored, helped construct work tables & cheered as each won team awards at a county competition.

In ‘07 we helped Team 1065 add photo gallery software to their web site, which went on to win FL Regional’s Best Website Award. Our students made the Mission Mayhem web site. We’ve shared transportation costs & outreach opportunities with Team 179, & have partnered with Team 180 for sponsor & robotics demos.

1523 is known for our event photography. MARS take pictures of all teams & shares “Kodak moments” through our organized, extensive website gallery which hosts over 7,000 images.

We support off season events, attending Mission Mayhem since ‘05 & overcoming school approval issues to participate in Tempest N Tampa. Members attended the Indianapolis Robotics Invitational, donating a backpack filled with school supplies, assisting with field reset and even donating blood.

We are active in the community. MARS works with a catholic computer ministry, refurbishing scores of donated computers for use by the needy. The team found & transported 40 old computers (5 carloads) from a law firm to the church.

MARS joins monthly Friends of Jupiter Beach clean-ups, which average over 1,000 volunteers. At the 4/7/07 gathering, FJB asked for a report on FL regional results. This year’s International Coastal Clean-Up was organized by team sponsor Telecom Pioneers. Although we learned of it one night before, our members turned out in force. MARS made our community cleaner & showed gratitude to a 3-year team sponsor.

1523 raised money for a local elementary school. The team's popular fair booth offering poofball target shooting & robot driving had long lines. We used our ’07 robot for presentation on their outdoor stage. The team was mentioned in a school placed newspaper ad & received a thank-you letter from their PTO president.

MARS makes science cool. At an annual fall Cub Scout weekend, which averages between 1,000 and 1,200 campers each year, we gave 3 robotics presentations. Scouts were invited to drive VEX robots, shoot poofballs and received MARS inflatable aliens via a t-shirt canon mounted on our ’05 robot.

MARS participates in the Jupiter/Tequesta Athletics Association’s holiday parade, which over 1800 people watched this year. Our entry had a group of penguins cheering as an adventurous one flew overhead (with a little ’07 robot help), living the float’s theme “Dare to Fly: Live your Fantasy”. The transformation of our VW Beatle tow vehicle into an Igloo attracted additional attention. MARS floats have won awards for originality and gain media attention every year.

Team bonds have formed with the South Florida Science Museum. MARS worked with the Museum to create an FRC display as part of a world-class robotics exhibit from the Carnegie Science Center. FIRST robots from Teams 1523 & 179 joined R2-D2, Robby the Robot and an array of industrial robots shown throughout the summer. 1523 made a looped DVD showing FIRST Championship footage which ran continuously during this 2nd best attended exhibit in SFSM’s history. FIRST information and brochures were distributed to an average 375 visitors daily. 15 MARS members went through the 1½ hour museum training. Some volunteer as regular exhibit guides, others help at special museum events.

One of the most impressive events we participated in was ROBOFEST. ROBOFEST was an interactive weekend museum event “celebrating all things robotic”. Over 1400 visitors were greeted out front with flying poofballs & the opportunity to drive MARS’ ’06 robot. Teams 1523, 179 & 180 demoed ’07 bots in an area fondly nicknamed the “robot playpen”. Visiting celebrity TV stars of Lost in Space, June Lockhart and Bob May, were given honorary MARS team member status. Each received our signature “Fuzzy” hat, membership certificates and brochures about MARS and FIRST. Mr. May, the actor behind the B9 robot, said it was fun to drive our robot for a change, rather than be one!

MARS helps the Museum whenever possible. This included being greeters/parking attendants during SFSM’s annual Members Meeting, running Harry Potter-style science activities for a "Magic for Muggles" Weekend & helping the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation plant a wetland rejuvenation project created on ¼+ acre site. Following a ribbon cutting ceremony by US Congressman Ron Klein opening the new exhibit, Rep. Klein was given a personal tour by MARS members & introduced to the FRC robots on display.

MARS activities have garnered media attention in the Palm Beach Post, Jupiter Courier, South FL Sun-Sentinel and Hometown News. We write press releases and foster media contacts. 1523 made its 1st public access TV advertisement, publicizing the Science Museum's Robotics exhibit. We’ve been featured in the Friends of Jupiter Beach, the Experimental Aircraft Association and the South Florida Science Museum’s quarterly newsletters, and on the POST PIX photo blog. Team presentations have been made to Palm Beach County’s School Board, the county’s Business Development Board’s PACE Luncheon, Boy Scouts of America, a local pilot’s association, and a local ASME chapter.

Our website is one of the most visited in FIRST, raising public awareness about FRC & our sponsors. MARS’ site has high search engine optimization helped by a Google grant for the 2007/08 school year. MARS benefits from an optimized keyword list and customized ad text. Our AdWords account caps out at $10,000 in FREE advertising per month. We previously got over 20,000 hits to our site without this advantageous search capability; now more than 144, 291 searches have directed individuals toward MARS.

MARS markets. Every season we make a DVD detailing the goals and successes of both FIRST and MARS. These DVDs are distributed during our fall sponsor drive and have proved to be quite successful. Of MARS’ yearly $25,000 budget, GE & Sikorsky give a combined $11,000. In ’08 over 60 local companies provided most of the rest. We recently developed a new brochure and fundraising campaign directed to 200+ Fortune 500 Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officers and Marketing Directors introducing the FIRST program and MARS Team 1523.

We maintains sponsor support by sending regular updates, photos, a certificate of thanks & invitations to our annual kickoff event & end-of-the-year social. Sponsor names or logos are posted on our web site, jerseys & robot. Robot demonstrations are given at their facility upon request.

MARS faces dramatic changes next year. Our teacher Mr. James Zachariah is cutting his involvement and reclaiming his classroom. GE may pull back sponsorship. Our supportive principal is retiring. 17 seniors and their parent/mentors are graduating, taking with them countless measures of support. We will miss them all. 1523 is aware of these challenges & created a business plan to help sustain our team vision. Efforts are underway to find a new faculty advisor along with a workshop classroom & new sponsorships.

The road to the future is not paved by some selective group of individuals who work perpetually; but by successive generations of innovators with the audacity to progress beyond both their peers and their ancestors. Many of our founding members are moving on, to higher education, to grow & to become our generation’s Einsteins, Newtons and Curies. It is the time for new members to explore science & begin their fulfilling journeys with FIRST & MARS.