Pontiac
Central High School /Delphi Automotive Systems
FIRST
Robotics Team
1996-2005
In 1997 Chief Delphi won the Chairman’s Award. We think that our team came to win this award for our groundbreaking CADET (Children Aspiring to Develop Engineering Talent ) Program, which initiates children in elementary and middle schools into the world of engineering. During the administration of President Bill Clinton, Secretary of Education Richard Riley made a special visit to Pontiac Central to acknowledge and celebrate the accomplishments of this team. Chief Delphi has captured more awards and has been responsible for inspiring more schools to participate in FIRST than any other team in the FIRST family.
According to FIRST, Chief Delphi has initiated more other original offshoot programs that have been emulated by other teams. Michigan has approximately 70 teams— more FIRST teams than any other of the 50 states—primarily, according to FIRST, because of Central/Delphi’s initiatives to recruit other schools to the fun and excitement of the FIRST Program. In fact, in January when all of the teams meet in New Hampshire to receive the game and rules for the year, Central/Delphi conducts an original Rookie Camp, which instructs new teams about additional details that FIRST does not cover in its orientation.
Because of the impact of FIRST upon Pontiac Central High School, our city of Pontiac< Michigan, the State of Michigan and the nation, Chief Delphi plans to continue our pursuit of excellence and high statndards of quality.
Since being involved in FIRST, Chief Delphi has assumed a leadership role. Furthermore, it has been committed to spreading the message of FIRST by developing special programs each year that enhance, not only its own FIRST program, but also that of national FIRST. Some of these ongoing programs include:
Ø National Chief Delphi Institute—This feature, created and marketed by Coach Birta L. Allen, is the newest contribution to the growth of the FIRST robotics community. At the inaugural Institute in 2000, team leaders and student team members conduct workshops on various topics to inform others in the FIRST community of latest developments and to assist them in developing their own teams. Teams from California, New York, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Michigan and Canada attended.
Ø Robotics League—The original concept initiated in 1999, came from a Delphi engineer Joe Johnson and a Central coach and then school district administrator, Birta L. Allen. These individuals introduced the league concept to Oakland Schools and also marketed it to other entities. Eventually Oakland Schools championed the league concept and pursued implementation. The outcome was the Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association (OCCRA). Chief Delphi Coach Michael Martus and Dr. Joseph Johnson assisted students in preparing this component for competition. Chief Delphi currently is responsible for the design of the kit as well as the game for OCCRA.
Ø
National Chief Delphi Invitational
(CDI)—This is a robotics tournament
that Joe Johnson, Mike Aubry, and
Michael Martus of Central Delphi created in 1997. Through the years, this event has grown to become
international in scope. Teams come to Pontiac Central in November
to compete in a daylong original robotics competition where they race their
own machines that they construct from a specialized kit of parts.
Ø Children Aspiring to Develop Engineering Talent (CADET)—Central Coach Birta L. Allen created this program in 1997. It involves a version of FIRST designed for elementary and middle school children. Today, most of the 500 national teams have some sort of mentoring program for elementary and middle school children that is modeled after the Central/Delphi CADET Program. In fact, when the Lego League was being considered for development, FIRST and the Lego Corporation President Peter Eio consulted with Mrs. Allen for implementation ideas. Today the Lego League is a component of FIRST.
Ø Rookie Camp—Each year at the National FIRST Kick-Off , Central Delphi has presented the Rookie Camp. The purpose of this program is to assist new teams in their development. Because of the success of the event, FIRST has made our program an official element of the Kick-Off. Delphi engineers and Pontiac Central coaches develop and produce the Rookie Camp. As a result of the responses from each year, Chief Delphi personally mentors other teams through the FIRST processes.
Ø Website—Chief Delphi team’s website (www.chiefdelphi.com.) has brought together and moved the FIRST community to a new level. Team leaders and students from around the country gather daily and communicate via this forum to exchange ideas and goodwill among teams. As a leader in web technology, this website is a tremendous resource for the entire FIRST community. The site typically gets 40,000 “hits” daily during the competition season.
Ø 95% of Chief Delphi’s graduating seniors go on to college, most of them having some sort of scholarship as a result of the FIRST program.
Ø Former Central FIRST Team member Irving Liimatta, who graduated in 2000 from Worchester Polytechnic Institute in engineering, is now an engineer at Delphi Automotive Systems. He attended WPI on a scholarship that the FIRST Team earned. Irving returned to Chief Delphi in the role of engineer and mentor to upcoming students.
Ø
Recently, Governor John Engler personally
requested that Chief Delphi come
to a conference in Lansing to demonstrate our robot and share our expertise
at a school-to-work conference.
Ø Central/Delphi has assisted numerous schools that contact us for information about replicating a FIRST program in their cities.
Ø One of the coaches, Michael Martus, serves on the National FIRST Leadership Advisory Board
Ø Central/Delphi demonstrated our program in Washington D.C. and assisted with the planning of the Inaugural Congressional Invitational.
Ø Corporations have offered Chief Delphi students lucrative scholarship offers because of their involvement in the Central/Delphi FIRST Team. Our FIRST coaches assist in arranging these opportunities.
Ø Chief Delphi was featured on a 30 second commercial, which Coach Birta L. Allen helped the National Education Association to produce. The spot was featured for six months statewide on Michigan television. It featured our students and the emphases upon math science, and technology programs at Pontiac Central.
Ø When Dean Kamen received the National Medal of Technology in 2000—the nation’s highest honor for technology, presented by the President—he invited the Central Delphi Team to come to Washington, DC to stand with him to represent the FIRST Program. Coach Birta L. Allen worked to secure gratis tickets from Dr. Cheryl Shavers, the Undersecretary of Commerce for Technology, to the celebration dinner in Washington DC. Because of these efforts, two coaches and one engineer were able to attend the event to represent Central/Delphi.
Ø Governor John Engler included the Central/Delphi FIRST Team in a publication that he prepared for President Bill Clinton. Chief Delphi was included because of our contributions to Michigan’s School-To-Work initiative. The book will become part of the Clinton Presidential Library.
Ø The National School Boards of America (NSBA) has honored us twice in six years as an
exemplary educational program. The first time was in 1999 as part of its national conference in New Orleans, Louisiana and in 2001 with a site visit to Michigan to tour our facility in Pontiac Central High School. In 2001 Pontiac Central High School and the Central Delphi Team was selected to host the NSBA on a site visit. We are honored to have been chosen to demonstrate our robotics program on April 26, 2001.
A partial listing of the entities that have given Chief Delphi awards include: Pontiac Schools, The City of Pontiac, Oakland Community College, Fujitsu Corporation, Johnson & Johnson DaimlerChrysler, Honeywell Corporation, Motorola Corporation, President Bill Clinton, Secretary of Education Richard Riley Senator Spencer Abraham, Senator Carl Levin, Congressman Dale Kildee, State Representative Hubert Price, State Senator Gary Peters, Governor John Engler, FIRST Founder Dean Kamen, Michigan Education Association, National Education Association, Southeast Association of Design Engineers, Design News, the Oakland Press, and combined session of Michigan House and Senate and many more.
Awards
· FIRST National Competition Orlando, Florida
Rookie All-Stars Award:
Inaugural WPI Scholarship Award ($68,000) Worchester, Massachusetts
Rookie All-Start Award
Outstanding Engineer of the Year Award: (Dr. Joseph Johnson, Design Engineer, Delphi Interior and Lighting
Distinguished Leadership Award: (Dr. Willie B. Aldridge, Principal, Pontiac Central High School)
Commendations
· Pontiac City Council, Elick Shorter, President
Awards
Chairman’s Award (Grand Award)
Silver Medal Finalist Award
Inaugural Daniel Webster Scholarship Award Boston, Massachusetts
$30,000
Johnson & Johnson “Buzz Team Award”
Judges’ Award
Top Seed Award:
Commendations
Awards
First Place Gold Medal Award:
Pontiac Northern Powertrain Most Helpful Team Award
International Academy Appreciation Award
FIRST DEKA New England Competition Top Seed Award
FIRST Southwest Com [petition Top Seed Award
FIRST Southwest Competition Design Engineering Award
(Dr. Barbara Sanders, Director of Engineering-Advanced Development, Delphi-I; Dr. Willie B. Aldridge, Principal, Pontiac Central High School; Dr. Joseph Johnson, Design Engineer, Delphi-I and Pontiac Central High School FIRST Coaches: Birta L. Allen, Academic Liaison; Michael Martus, Vocational Education Department Chair; Michael McIntyre, Physics Instructor; Lorene Phillips, English Department Chair; Robert Rich, Mathematics Instructor; and Arthur Williams, Student Advocate) Pontiac, MI
National Innovation in Engineering Award
Saluting Public Schools Award: (Commercial aired in US and Canada) Lansing, Michigan
Business & Industry Award
Outstanding Educator Award: (Michael Martus)
Secondary Teacher of the Year Award:
(1st time to a group FIRST Coaches: Birta L Allen, Michael Martus, Michael McIntyre, Lorene Phillips, Jamie Schutt, Arthur Williams) Pontiac, Michigan
(1st time to a group FIRST Coaches Birta L. Allen, Michael Martus, Michael McIntyre, Lorene Phillips, Arthur Williams) Bentonville, Arkansas
International Founders’ Award
Judges Award
Commendations
Awards
Motorola Quality Award
Outstanding Defensive Play
Chairman’s Award Finalist Trophy
15th Place out of 270 Team
First Place Gold Medal
Honeywell Leadership in Controls Award
Third Place Bronze Medal
Number One Seed Trophy
First Place Gold Medal
Second Place Silver Trophy
Best Offensive Robot Trophy
Awards
Second Place Silver Medal
Chairman’s Award Finalist Trophy (Second Consecutive Year)
Fifth Place (Silver Medal)
Johnson & Johnson Leadership in Controls Award
Fourth Place
First Place Gold Medal Winner
Johnson & Johnson Leadership in Controls Award
DaimlerChrysler Spirit Award
Judges Award (Top award of the competition)
Fourth Place
Commendations
Recognition of Leadership in State of Michigan for Technology
Leadership in Technology
Recognition of Leadership and Standing Ovation for Central /Delphi FIRST Team
2002 Competitive Season
Awards
·
FIRST National Hall of Fame Induction,
Orlando, Florida
· FIRST Grand Rapids Regional, Grand Rapids, MI
Gold Medal, First Place
General Motors Industrial Design Award
Incredible Play Award
Top Score of the 2002 Regional Tournaments (156 Points)
· FIRST Great Lakes Regional, Ypsilanti, MI
Special Judges’ Award (“The Team That Has Everything!”)
· FIRST Buckeye Regional, Cleveland, Ohio
Delphi Engineering Quality Award
Third Place
Awards
Spirit of the Competition Award
Entrepreneurial Award
Archimedes Division
Silver Medal
Awards
Pontiac Central believes that FIRST has been a very successful educational incentive for all of its students. Not only have students garnered scholarships, internships, and employment as a result of their participation, but also they have expanded their horizons for career goals and achievement. For over seven years, Chief Delphi has lead the way for many other FIRST Teams across the nation, a fact that Dean Kamen has acknowledged on various occasions.
At the end of each year after coming through our training program, every student team member is articulate enough to speak to media and respond to questions about the FIRST Program. We function as a team and a family. It is this special relationship that we develop among our team members that makes our students exemplary.
Chief Delphi is extremely proud of its many accomplishments. Moreover, the team chooses to continue to create dynamic programs and scenarios that serve to improve student achievement, especially in the math, science, and technology.