12/14 Meeting

Today was a very important meeting. I began by telling the club about the FRC kickoff at High Tech International the Saturday we come back after break (Jan. 6, 2007). Summer then talked about the shirts her father got for us. He negotiated a really good deal for the shirts which are nice mechanics shirt. The shirts are ten bucks, and the embroderied name is an extra five bucks. I then went to programming. We finished printing out all the source code to study. We also showed Jake how to connect the robot to the computer and the other pieces of technology. We have new members for programming: Nicole and Catalina.

Today was a very exciting day for me. I am beginning to see the team comaderie emerge when we began giving each other nicknames. They tried giving the nickname of Mrs. but I stuck with my name "J". I can't believe I'm paying five bucks for a single letter! Anyhow, the prospects for programming looks very good. We have recruited some more members, and over the break, I plan on helping both Nicole and Catalina learn the basics of the C language. jnoraky.

12/7 Meeting

Today we went over some club business. Unfortunately, I was working with Jake from MPLab on a programming assignment. I was suppose to work on writing a program to add up the first one hundred numbers, then prime numbers. I figure that the announcements were about the shirt design. I remember earlier in the officer's meeting we talked about an executive decision on the logo, which is designated as the moon and gears logo. Towards the end, Jake, Rose, and I were teaching Allen some basics of programming.

Today I felt really bad for not paying attention to the club meetings. It is a bad habit that I will not repeat. In terms of programming, I feel I am putting more effort into learning the code. Last year I was in and out so I did not grasp the code as well, but I am confident that this year, I will understand how to manipulate it for my purposes. jnoraky

11/30 Meeting

Today was more of a party than a meeting! We began with some announcements. We talked about the new team shirt; we actually planning on having actual mechanic shirts. We then had some ice cream and we enjoyed ourselves. I then went with Movellan and a MPLab guy to work on programming. The programming did not work because we were trying to find a reliable workstation. We chose Rupert's room and installed teh MPLab IDE on his comp.

This meeting was a testament to our sucess as a team so far. So far, we have mangaged to hold together an enormous event with the only complaint being loud music. This definitely goes to show the strenghts of teamwork, cliche yes but very true indeed. In terms of programming, I feel good that we are tackling our problems now instead of waiting later. jnoraky

11/16 Meeting

This meeting like all the other meetings so far was a Lego day because the competition is coming up this Saturday. In the beginning, Rose and I spoke to Mr. Movellan and a guy from MPLAB on starting programming early this year. We talked about what we are going to learn, our problems, and our goals. We all decided that we need to start earlier so that we can be more efficient later during the competiton. Afterwards, I mentored a bit for the remainder of the time.

I learned that even though the season has not started, we really have to start the workshops we planned. Next year, all of our veterans will be gone, and we have really big shoes to fill if we do not start now. For programming, we really have to find some prospective programmers because next year, I will be the only programmer around because Rose is a senior. As for lego, I am getting a little nervous for the kids. The group that I am mentoring, Quantum Mechanics, is constantly arguing. Hopefully they can pull themselves together on time for the competition. jnoraky

11/9 General Meeting

Today was another Lego day. We started the club with a group picture because our club received our first grant payment of $2000 from Fisher and Richardson, a law firm. We then listened to some announcements about Lego and community service. After that, we broke up into the highschool club and the FLL club. I stayed and help mentor the NXT kids for FLL.

I am extremely excited to hear that we have received our first grant money. We will need as much of it as possible because the cost for a regional tournament alone is 6000 dollars. As for the Lego competition, its all up to the kids now. I think as a mentor I have taught them all that I know, and with little less than a week to go, they have to apply what they learned. Sadly I cannot touch nor program their bot. :( jnoraky.

11/2 Meeting

Today was primarily a Lego day like the past previous meetings. We started the club with some general announcements, and the high school members moved to another room. I stayed behind to mentor the middle school students for the FLL competition. Today, I focused on helping the kids write some programs, and make some mechanical adjustments to the drive train of their robots.

I am getting somewhat nervous as the students are not realizing that they have only two weeks left to complete their robot. Most teams have only finished one task and stopping, which is completely ludicrous. But in the end, I am happy to help the middle school students despite the frustrations. In terms of preparing for the competition itself, I hear it is coming along, which is good news. jnoraky

10/26 Meeting

Today we worked primarily on Lego. I went with Ceci, Pauls, Thien, Esteban to the gym to look at how it is going to be set up for the competition. We decided on the layout of the tables for the twelve teams, the allocation of power, and the seating of the audiences. Afterwards, I helped Mr. Rupert program some lego robots. In terms of general announcements, we were told to sign up for a lego job, a volunteer opportunity, and to sign out.

Today I truely learned to appreciate team work as a collaborative force. In the beginning of the club, committee members stated their accomplishments and I was amazed at what the club has achieved in whole. This is really encouraging and I think that it will define our club as one above and beyond in the sea of clubs in SD. I also realized that we need to involve more of our members. It is my wish to bring our numbers back to the original thirty or so like last year. jnoraky

10/19 Meeting

Today we worked primarily on preparing for the Lego Tournament. I spoke with Ms. Khavarian about the food for the Lego Tournament. She told me that the club should provide water/soda, and even provide chips/cookies. She plans on purchasing twenty five pizzas for the Lego Competition from Papa Johns. After speaking with her, I went to help work on the Field setup.

From this meeting, I learned that preparing for the Lego Competition is a club affair since it requires so much work. I also practiced my communication skills today as I worked out the food issue. I realize that the whole event ties back to fundraising, something as accountant I need to be involved in. We really need to compel our members to bring food because donations equal profits. jnoraky