Warsaw Robotics Teams Make 'Shark Tank'-Style Pitch
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Warsaw Robotics Club hosted its first “Shark Tank” event Thursday evening in hopes of getting sponsorship from orthopedic companies for the 2014-15 VEX Robotics competition season. Three teams from the Warsaw Area Career Center pitched their designs to Jacob Gross, product development engineer, Symmetry Medical; Elizabeth Perepezko, research scientist, Biomet; and Steve Miller, section manager of lean and six sigma, DePuy. Also present were family members of the students on the teams. “Shark Tank” is a show where people pitch their inventions and/or ideas to successful entrepreneurs in hopes of getting an investment. Club co-advisor Abbi Richcreek explained that for “Warsaw Robotics Shark Tank,” each team would have 10 minutes to present their robot design, followed by a question-and-answer session. After all three teams presented, they would answer any deeper questions the potential sponsors had. The orthopedic company representatives then could offer sponsorship. During the next school year, she said the teams will have six chances to qualify for state contest. The winner of the state contest advances to world competition. Instead of waiting until the next school year to start working on their robots, she said they will begin working on them this summer. In order to start doing that, the robotics teams need sponsorship now. She also explained the VEX Robotics competition for 2014-15. According to the official website, the game for next year is VEX Skyrise. It is played on a 12-foot by 12-foot square field. Two alliances – “red” and “blue” – composed of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a 15-second autonomous period followed by 1 minute and 45 seconds of driver-controlled play. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than the opposing alliance by scoring colored cubes in floor goals, on posts or on their skyrise, by owning posts, and by building their skyrise sections. Club co-advisor Paul Zakaria introduced the first team. Team Hydraulic Cow Tippers includes students Caleb Schooley, Daniel Hench and Kacie Hampton. Their budget for their robot is $2,388. Team JARVIS includes Ethan Horst, Alyson Heilig and Bailey Stiver. Their budget is $1,300. The third team, SG-1, includes 2014 state semi-finalists Patrick Mosher, Grant Monsma and Kara Blair. Their budget is $1,550.66 if they use salvaged parts, but $2,744.94 if they can get all new parts. During their presentations, teams discussed the different designs they considered and how they decided on their final one. They answered questions regarding torque, weight and structural integrity of their robots. One unidentified man in the audience asked how donations to the teams could be made. Richcreek said they can let her know. They can write a check to WACC and put it attention to her. She said she would make sure the donor got a tax-deductible receipt for their sponsorship. A company that sponsors a team can get their company logo on the back of a team shirt, on Warsaw Robotics’ website and on the robot, mentorship opportunities the opportunity to display the sponsored robot at the company next summer. Gross said Symmetry would sponsor the program and partner with one of the teams by coming in and offering mentors. Perepezko said Biomet probably would offer the same thing. She said the money Biomet allocated probably wouldn’t sponsor one full team, but if all the money offered by the companies is spread out, the teams could start working on their robots and get the rest of the funding later. “Overall, I was impressed with all the work that went into this,” Gross said. “You did a really good job.” Perepezko agreed, saying the students prepared well for the presentations. “Great job to everyone,” Miller said.
