[Tyler]

CMU Launches $7 Million Educational Initiative
     


The CMU Robotics Institute, with
the help of a seven million dollar
DARPA grant, has
announced the
launch of a four year educational initiative called Fostering Innovation through Robotics
Exploration (FIRE). The goal is to use student interest in robotics to
encourage computer science education, and to steer students toward
science and engineering careers. In addition to embracing existing
educational robotics competitions such as FIRST and VEX, CMU will also
be creating new competitions.
The initiative will ... create new competitions for
autonomous, multi-robot teams and for computer animations that will
attract a broader array of students and offer new challenges.

To help, CMU is tapping robot expertise from Dallas, TX, hiring none
other than Ed Paradis, current
president of the Dallas Personal Robotics
Group. When asked about the propsect of leaving one of the nation's
top Hobby Robot Groups for CMU, he replied, "although I'm sad to
leave the Dallas robotics community, this is a hobby roboticists dream
job!".

   

http://robots.net/article/3035.html