When Rappahannock High School received materials to construct a robot for the second annual High School Innovation Challenge @ Dahlgren, physics and math teacher Preston Ailor noticed students became frustrated.
They were unable to code the robot for motion and some were ready to give up before sophomore Ricardo Alvarez stepped in. “The next thing you know, Ricardo sits it on the floor and it is running around the classroom like a pet,” Ailor said. “He is just a wizard with it.”
Alvarez put his wizardry on display, helping Rappahannock land the top spot at the Innovation Challenge held March 31 to April 1 at the University of Mary Washington’s (UMW) Dahlgren Campus.
Designed to engage students with STEM learning, the challenge welcomed 22 teams from 19 schools across the Fredericksburg region, from New Kent to Stafford and throughout the Northern Neck.
The two-day competition had students programming robots to complete simulated missions to maneuver a course and retrieve an object crucial to national security. It was hosted by Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), UMW, MITRE Corporation, the Fredericksburg Regional Military Affairs Council and King George Economic Development Authority.
NSWCDD Technical Director Dale Sisson Jr., SES, said the goal of the event is to encourage future leaders to serve their nation. Read more.
The University of Mary Washington is a premier, selective public liberal arts and sciences university in Virginia, highly respected for its commitment to academic excellence, strong undergraduate liberal arts and sciences program, and dedication to life-long learning. The university, with a total enrollment of about 4,000, features colleges of business, education and arts and sciences, and three campuses, including a residential campus in Fredericksburg, Va., a second one in nearby Stafford and a third in Dahlgren, Va., which serves as a center of development of educational and research partnerships between the Navy, higher education institutions and the region’s employers
