Q&A with robotics competition co-founder Dr. Woodie Flowers

Picture of Dr. Woodie Flowers at 2011 FIRST Robotics Championship

Lindsey Foat – The Hale Center for Journalism Instead of seeing 58 robots competing, Dr. Woodie Flowers sees 58 solutions to a problem he created. Flowers is a Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, original host of the PBS series “Scientific American Frontiers” and the co-founder and creator of the…

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Students Solve Old Problem with New Ketchup Cap

Photo of ketchup bottle squirting.

Video: John McGrath — The Hale Center for Journalism High school seniors Tyler Richards and Jonathan Thompson have spent a lot of time thinking about ketchup. As students in the Project Lead the Way program at North Liberty High School, Richards and Thompson have researched and developed a bottle cap that prevents that first squirt…

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Block by block: LEGO robotics builds interest in STEM

Young boy holding up electrical device with wheels.

Red Bridge Elementary fourth grader KayShawn Whitworth wants to be both a scientist and an inventor when he grows up. “Scientists, to me, connect to inventing things,” Whitworth said. “If I was just a scientist I would be studying things and then, out of nowhere: pop! an invention comes into my head. … Most of…

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Education Q&A: Christina Chandler, student teacher

headshot of woman with books behind her.

Christina Chandler is a 3rd grade student teacher at Red Bridge Elementary School. After hours, she devotes 10-20 hours a week coaching Center School District’s FIRST® LEGO® League teams. FLL gets 9 to 14-year-olds interested in engineering through robotics competitions. One of the teams Chandler works with is the Rocking Robo Roadrunners. This month they…

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