News Archive - 2011

• Dec. 12, 2011 - We held our annual holiday party at the shop, where there was plenty of good food and dancing (sort of).
  
• Dec. 5, 2011 - The Greenville Section of the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) joined us for a tour of our shop and to learn about our exciting program through an informative presentation and robot demonstrations.
  
• Nov. 12 and Sept. 17, 2011 - EnTech students, led by our team captain, helped local Boy Scouts design and build robots to perform difficult tasks using the LEGO NXT system to earn their robotics merit badges.
  
• Oct. 29 - The EnTech 281 GreenVillains attended the South Carolina Robotics Invitational and Workshops (SCRIW) in Columbia.   For new students, this was a wonderful opportunity to experience first-hand what the FIRST Robotics Competition is all about, while for continuing students, it was an opportunity to enjoy the fast-paced action of the LOGO MOTION game one last time. We all had a great time.
  
• Oct. 8 - EnTech 281 hosted a FIRST LEGO League Training Camp at our shop to train students and adults about building and programming with the LEGO NXT system.
  
• Sept. 16, 2011 - Cyd Brown from Greenville County 4-H visited the shop to present awards to two members of EnTech 281.   David received the Senior 4-H'er of the Year Award and Jacob received the 4-H Best Attitude Award.   Congratulations to both!
  
• Aug. 15 - We demonstrated our robots for AJ Day at Fluor Field, as part of a Greenville Drive celebration of the start of the second school year for A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School of Engineering.
  
• Aug. 1-2, 2011 - EnTech students assisted our STEM Outreach Coordinator in conducting a two-day Engineering Design Challenges camp at Upstate Circle of Friends under a grant from NASA.
  
• Jul. 27-29, 2011 - EnTech students assisted our STEM Outreach Coordinator Ms. Leavitt in conducting three one-day Engineering Design Challenges camps under a NASA grant to help Girl Scouts earn their Women in Engineering badges.
  
• Jul. 18, 2011 - About 15 students and mentors from EnTech 281 took advantage of a great opportunity to tour the local facility of one of our new sponsors, Baldor. Baldor is a designer/manufacturer of industrial electric motors, mechanical power transmission products, drives and generators. The office on Roper Mountain is one of the labs for the company.
  
• Jun. 16, 2011 - We visited our biggest sponsor Michelin to demonstrate our robots and then had the great privilege of touring one of their facilities. The tour was very interesting and informative.
  
• Jun. 13, 2011 - Members of EnTech 281 had the opportunity to tour Greenville Tech and learn about career opportunities and what Greenville Tech has to offer.
  
• Jun. 2, 2011 - We held an end of the year party for our team as a cookout/covered dish "get together" for all the family.   We all loved it and had a great time. Many thanks to the Morris family for hosting us again this year.
• May. 27-30, 2011 - Greenville Technical College once again organized demonstration booths at the Freedom Weekend Aloft over the four days of Memorial Day weekend.   The team had been invited back and demonstrated the robots on Sunday.
  
• May. 23, 2011 - EnTech hosted an open house on Monday May 23rd at 5:00 p.m. at our shop.
• Apr. 27-30, 2011 - EnTech 281 attended the 2011 FRC Championship held at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO.   We had a great time, especially at the performance by will.i.am along with the rest of the The Black Eyed Peas and some special guests.
  
• Apr. 6-9, 2011 - EnTech 281 attended the 2011 North Carolina Regional FRC Competition at the Dorton Arena in Raleigh, NC.   We seeded 11th and led the number 8 alliance.   Thanks to our partners, Team 1319 "Flash" and Team 1758 "Technomancers" for joining our alliance.   We also won the Engineering Inspiration Award which qualified us to attend the FRC World Championship in St. Louis.
  
• Mar. 24-26, 2011 - EnTech 281 attended the 2011 Palmetto Regional FRC Competition at the North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, SC.   We'd like to thank Team 1875 "Purple Haze" and their first alliance pick Team 1902 "Exploding Bacon" for inviting us to join the number 5 alliance which beat the odds to make it to the semifinals.   Also, we won the Xerox Creativity Award, and our team captain David Gaddy was selected as a FIRST Dean's List Finalist.   In addition, one of the rookie teams that we mentored, Team 3651 "TRIBE" from Travelers Rest, won the Rookie All Star Award.
  
• Mar. 5, 2011 - The "Dynamite Dragons" and the "Terminators" participated in the FIRST LEGO League SC State Championship Tournament held in North Charleston, SC., and the "Dynamite Dragons" won the Against All Odds Perseverance Award.
  
• Feb. 22, 2011 - The robot shipped on Tuesday following a busy Monday evening when we did some last minute programming and mechanical work and then crated the robot.
  
• Feb. 19, 2011 - FLL Team 3830, the "Terminators", attended the FLL Camden Regional where they placed 3rd.
  
• Feb. 19, 2011 - FTC Team 753 attended the FIRST Tech Challenge NC Championship Tournament at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, NC.
  
• Jan. 22, 2011 - The FIRST LEGO League Greenville Regional was held at the Sterling School.   The "Dynamite Dragons" placed 4th and qualified for the SC FLL State Tournament.   The "Terminators", having won a lottery, will also be attending the State Tournament.
  
• Jan. 8, 2011 - The 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff marks the beginning of the design and build season.   Our kickoff event was held at MARC (Michelin Research and Development Center).   We learned about the new 2011 FRC game, LOGO MOTION.