FIRST Tech Challenge CASCADE EFFECT Masterminds

A big crowd at Rethink Robotics checking out Baxter in August 2013.

Ever wonder who the people are that come up with the annual FTC Game? Chaired by JoAnn Halloran, FTC Program Manager, the Game Design committee (or GDC) is made up of select volunteers who meet every week over the course of the year to plan and refine the Game before and after Kickoff in September. They research real world robots, up-and-coming technology innovations, and then design a game that can be accomplished by rookie and veteran teams with multiple scoring options. It is no easy task, but these hard-working volunteers truly love the challenge.

The planning for the CASCADE EFFECTchallenge started in September 2013 with a trip to Rethink Robotics to explore Baxter the manufacturing robot, as well as the Baresearch robot. The next day the GDC brainstormed four ideas which were developed a little, then reduced to three, then worked on more, then reduced to two, and then fully-developed before a decision was made to go with the final game. Several months of fine-tuning and rule development followed before the Game Name Brainstorming session last summer. And what a final result! CASCADE EFFECT is proving to be both a challenging and exciting game. 

So who do we thank? Let’s meet the CASCADE EFFECT GDC!

Joe Perrotto has been with FIRST for 15 years and has been a dedicated volunteer with the FIRST Tech Challenge since its inception. Mechanical Engineer for DuPont by day, Joe has been a Mentor to Team 365 MOE, the Delaware FTC Affiliate Partner, and is the Field Manager for the FTC World Championships in his spare time. Why does he dedicate so much time to FIRST and FTC? Says Joe, “as a practicing engineer for the past 36 years I see the need to get more people into the science and engineering fields.  There just aren’t enough newly graduated engineers to fill the demand.” After all, Joe hopes to see, “that we have an FTC team in every high school in the country and that we have a new generation of young adults who think engineering is cool.”

 

Like Joe, Mannie Lowe has volunteered with FTC from the start and as Affiliate Partner, wears a full-time hat titled FIRST Program Manager at the University of Mississippi. Mannie has volunteered in almost every role within FTC, as well as Event Organizer for both Georgia and Mississippi events. The hardest part about Game Design, Mannie says, is “keeping different aspects of the game unique from year to year.” However, it also has its rewards, such as “working with a great committee that bring different strengths together to create a great game.  Also, seeing the fruits of our labor coming to life by the students,” Mannie notes.

In his second year, Kansas-based Paul Utley is a relative newbie to the GDC (Joe and Mannie have been on the committee for 8 years). Yet he is equally passionate. Speaking to FTC students, he says, “don’t ever be afraid to pursue something that you like, and do not fear failure. Never doubt your potential. The most brilliant people in history have had many, many failures along the way to remarkable discoveries in engineering and science.” As an Education Research and Development Engineer at Pitsco, Paul knows first-hand the need for engineers in the future to help solve the world’s problems. So what does he like best about FTC, then?” The Gracious Professionalism and team aspect of the competition.”

Mathematics Instructor at Provost Academy in South Carolina, Cindy Langley became involved in FIRST and FTC as a Team Mentor in 2007, but joined the GDC just last year. While her favorite part about FTC is the student interaction, with Game Design she loves “the whole process, but especially the brainstorming at the beginning.  It is truly amazing to see so many ideas come together to create the game.” And what makes a game great according to Cindy are: “challenge and freedom.  When a game is both challenging and there aren’t numerous limitations, then the design solutions that teams come up with are mind-blowing.”

Kevin Rudd, Computer Architect, has been with FTC “a lot” of years and with FIRST “lots more”, so it is not surprising that he has volunteered in a lot of roles, including: Emcee, Custodian, Co-Affiliate Partner, Tournament Director, Volunteer Room Food Service Coordinator, and Head Referee. It was only a matter of time before he also wore the GDC hat, which he put on for the first time last year. Like the rest of the committee, Kevin enjoys the excitement of designing a new game, but also found it challenging to “think like an FTC engineer; it is hard to visualize what would be fun as well as to design game aspects.” Perhaps biased by his experience as a Head Ref, Kevin believes a good FTC game is ”clean and clear: it has rules that don't have holes and discourage penalties.”

Not only are they leaders in their fields, the GDC helps build leaders in FTC by developing games that are both based in real-world issues and support opportunities for creative solutions that challenge teams to new levels each season. The result of their hard work is found on the competition field and that is where they find the most reward: seeing what solutions teams create.

The masterminds behind CASCADE EFFECT volunteer their time and work hard to inspire the next generation of engineers and world problem-solvers, hoping that one day, they might, as Kevin puts it, “see the winning FTC team with their robot on the cover of Time Magazine as the Person of the Year.” Wouldn’t that just be too cool?