Alumni Spotlight:

Patricia Schuster

Graduated in 2007

What years were you on the team and what did you do?
2005-2007, unofficially since 7th grade in 2002.  I helped recruit for the team, organize a lot of the social side and helped on most of the building aspects. I think I made a lot of the more practical decisions when the rest of the team were overwhelmed and helped to keep the building on task.

Where did you go to school? Majors?
University of Michigan – Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences and the International Minor in Engineering

What are you doing today?
Senior in college, waiting to hear back from graduate schools.  I’m pursuing a PhD in radiation detection and nonproliferation.

Did being on the robotics team have an impact on you? How?
Yes, it helped me learn a lot of skills necessary to working in a team and managing social dynamics.  It set me up to make a lot of friends at U of M who were on other robotics teams that I recognized.  Robotics is one of the best experiences a high school student can have in terms of personal growth.  It will set you up professionally, socially, and eventually financially.

FIRST in 2007:

Rack N’ Roll

Rack ‘n Roll pitted two alliances of three teams against one another. The main objective of each alliance was to place tubes onto the center rack.

The championship was held in the Georgia Dome this year. Chad Hurley, cofounder of YouTube, was a guest speaker before the final matches on Einstein Field. This makes 2007 the second year in the row in which a Google employee gave a speech before the final matches. In 2006, Sergei Brin was a speaker.

The AdamBots in 2007:

The AdamBots attended the Florida Regional in Orlando, FL, and the West Michigan Regional, but they did not have much success. “Arcadia” was this year’s robot.