Our New 3-D Printer!

by William

This past February we were honored to receive an EKOCYCLE Cube 3D Printer, courtesy of will.i.am and Coca-Cola. According to the Coca-Cola Journey Staff, “There are three types of people: those who have tried 3D printing, those who are fascinated by it and can’t wait to try it and those who have no idea what it is — yet. But a new collaboration between EKOCYCLE and 3DSystems is making the technology more accessible for novices and experienced users alike.” We found this to be completely true.

As we waited patiently for a solid 10 minutes in front of the smoothly-designed, futuristically-cool cube to calibrate, warm up, and create whatever we wanted (as long as it fit in the 6x6x6-inch space), we realized that we were experiencing, while still in high school, how cutting-edge technology is applied to major projects in all sorts of engineering fields.

We are currently planning on training new members about the software and hardware that make 3D printing possible. We hope to create a habit of using 3D printing and computer-aided design as viable alternatives to professionally-made custom parts.

Possibly the greatest thing about this (alongside our keeping up with innovation and joining the 3D printing revolution we see throughout FIRST) is the standard of eco-friendly engineering that will.i.am and EKOCYCLE hope to promote. The printer uses recycled plastic material. Many of our ideas can be prototyped using this versatile tool.

Cascade Bruin Robotics gives our sincerest thanks to FIRST, the Coca-Cola Company, will.i.am, and our hard-working mentors for helping us get to where we are now.

Julia Loewen is a Dean's List Finalist!

FRC Team 4512 had its last competition of the year at Shorewood High on March 22. The team performed well, making it to the playoffs, but unfortunately did not qualify for the Pacific Northwest Regional Event. However, it was an exciting moment during the awards ceremony when we found out that Julia, our veteran director, would be advancing to the Pacific Northwest Regional event as a Dean's List semifinalist.

BEARbots Coach Neil Palachuk, BEARbots director Julia Loewen, FIRST Washington Founding Chairman Kevin Ross

Although Julia was unable to attend the Pacific Northwest Regional Event, she was selected to be a Dean's List finalist and go on to the FIRST World Championship in St, Louis later this month.

The term “Dean’s List” comes from Dean Kamen, inventor and founder of US FIRST Robotics. The Dean’s List Award goes to sophomores and juniors and is based on a mentor-submitted essay and student interviews. According to the FIRST website, criteria for the FIRST Dean’s List includes:

• Demonstrated leadership and commitment to the ideals of FIRST
• Interest in and passion for a long term commitment to FIRST
• Overall individual contribution to their team
• Technical expertise and passion
• Entrepreneurship and creativity
• Ability to motivate and lead fellow team members
• Effectiveness at increasing awareness of FIRST in their school and community

Julia has been with our team since our first year at Cascade. She has provided strong leadership on our FTC and FRC teams for the last three years. We look forward to being a much stronger organization next year with Julia at the helm!