FIRST Team Receives Prestigious Lemelson-MIT Grant
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) “Team Overdrive” is in good company as one of this year’s recipients of the Lemelson-MIT Program’s InvenTeam Initiative grants ─ a national initiative that awards grants to high-school students for inventions which address practical solutions to real-world problems. FIRST Founder, Dean Kamen, was the recipient of a Lemelson-MIT Invention Award in 2002, when he was named an outstanding living American inventor-innovator who significantly benefited society.
Each year, the Lemelson-MIT Program’s InvenTeam Initiative gives these grants based on a review of proposals submitted by numerous educational organizations throughout the U.S. In October 2008, “Team Overdrive” was awarded a $10,000 grant ─ the highest amount given ─ for its proposal of an invention that would help developing countries with their grain milling industry. The team is one of 16 high school groups who were awarded grants this year. The Lemelson-MIT Program recognizes outstanding inventors, and encourages sustainable solutions to real-world problems, while enabling and inspiring young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention.
As part of the program, teams of high-school students, teachers, and mentors from around the country are asked to collaboratively identify and research a problem, and then develop a prototype invention to solve that problem. Grants of up to $10,000 support each team’s efforts. Launched in 2002 as a pilot program, InvenTeams has expanded from three grants awarded in its pilot year to 16 grants awarded in the fall of 2007.
For its invention in this year’s competition, “Team Overdrive” proposed a pedal-operated adaptive multi-grain de-huller. In developing countries, grain milling is a labor-intensive, manual process that uses a mortar and pestle; and it is a job routinely relegated to women and children. Although some villages have a community mill, these small, five horsepower mills are unreliable. The diesel-powered mills break down easily and replacement parts are expensive or often unavailable. In an effort to alleviate this problem, “Team Overdrive” will design, prototype, and build an affordable human-powered grain mill, which can process rice, sorghum, oats, and barley.
A homeschool team from Bridgewater, New Jersey,“Team Overdrive” won numerous awards and was part of the Winning Alliance at the World Championship in 2008 season. The team is transitioning to the larger robot platform and will compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition in 2009.
“Team Overdrive” greatly appreciates the financial and mentoring support it has received from corporations and members of the community. It is especially thankful for the financial support from Umicore. The company’s $5,000 gift helped to strengthen the winning proposal, and its gift will help to buy a vertical milling machine and welding equipment for a developing country.
| tour request | contact irobot | privacy policy | terms & conditions |  |