Tesla Take 2
A little driving guidance at Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire 2013
It’s been a busy spring so far! Fresh off the State Championship in early March, we’ve been able to keep Sheldon the Robot running all month, first at the Orlando Regional, then at the coolTECH business expo, and at the Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire.
This week we’re heading back out to Orlando for the Tesla League Take Two off-season
TDT at coolTech 2013
Demoing at Orlando FRC Regional
FTC event, where team members will be able to take advantage of some CAD, build and programming classes before enjoying some scrimmage time with other teams. It’s a great opportunity for team members ingto get to spend some stress-free time with other teams, and fine tune some of their teamwork and build skills.
After that, we’ve got a fun project lined up as part of the LI4E Makerspace Project team, participating in the 2013 Red Bull Creation challenge!
And the year is still young!
TDT @ 2013 BizTech/CoolTech Awards & Expo
TDT @ CoolTech 2012
The Tampa Bay Business Journal and the Tampa Bay Technology 
Forum are partnering for the 2013 BizTech/CoolTECH Awards and Expo, recognizing innovative technology companies in the Bay Area. And once again, with great thanks to the event organizers, Team Duct Tape will be there, participating for our 4th year in a row, to showcase our FIRST tech to event goers.
The “innovative technology” we bring to the table is technically literate high school students who are becoming well versed in programming, CAD, mechanical engineering and business development thanks to collaborative partnerships with area businesses, and the support of mentors from the professional community.
We believe nurturing a scientifically and technologically literate generation is of utmost importance in our society at all levels, and all ages. Inspiring youth at the community level brings us closer to FIRST founder Dean Kamen’s transformative vision of “a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes.”
Team Duct Tape students emerge from their FIRST Tech Challenge experience with improved academic and workforce readiness skills that make them assets to their communities and to area businesses. We’re grateful for the opportunity for our students to show what they’re learning to others, and to learn from others what their growing knowledge makes possible for them in the future.
Three Weeks and Not a Minute to Spare!
With a “to-do” list long as a new roll of duct tape, TDT members got right back to work after the ROBOT League Championship to evaluate lessons learned and improvements needed. We’ve come a long way but the State Championship is a whole new game, with the playing field level and everything possible, and up against and with some of the best teams in the state.
Today, we got to share a bit of our story with B.C. Manion, a reporter for
the Laker , and with 83 Degrees media about our upcoming visit to coolTech 2013.
Everyone’s got specific tasks they’ve taken ownership of, and a pretty tight timeline to get it all done. Mr. Adsit led team members on a project planning overview, similar to what he did with team members last year, to help everyone get a realistic view of what could be accomplished in the short time allotted us, always a good exercise!
Team members will be honing interview skills, tweaking Sheldon a bit (that’s Robot’s name!) , and working in full calendar of upcoming outreach events starting with Lockheed Martin E-week on February 20th, in Orlando, followed by the USF Engineering Expo on February 23 , followed by the Championship. And the outreach roster is full when we get back, too, when we exhibit at the FRC Orlando Regional on March 9, coolTech on March 14, and then at the Tampa Bay Mini Maker Faire on March 23.
And on top of that, we’re fundraising, hoping to raise $2500 to help defray lodging, travel and other competition related costs on our journey to Daytona.
So we’ve got three weeks left before the State Championship and not a minute to spare between now and then. What a great ride!
Team Duct Tape 