Mr. Russell - Engineering & Robotics
Mechanical Engineering Aerospace Engineering Manufacturing Engineering
Engineering Applications VEX Robotics ROV Robotics
Fall 2020 Schedule Spring 2021 Schedule
Block 1 - Mechanical Engineering Block 1 - Mechanical Engineering
Block 2 - Aerospace Engineering Block 2 - Aerospace Engineering
Block 3 - Mechanical Engineering Block 3 - Mechanical Engineering Block 4 - REA Block 4 - REA Block 5 - REA Block 5 - REA
Block 6 - VEX Robotics Block 6 - Aerospace Engineering
Block 7 - VEX Robotics Block 7 - ROV Robotics
Block 8 - VEX Robotics Block 8 - ROV Robotics
Office Hours: Before and after school
Introduction
Welcome to Engineering & Robotics at Hackettstown High School. I teach a variety of engineering and robotics courses as well as coach FIRST Robotics FRC Team 6016, Tiger Robotics. My semester-based courses are designed to build conceptual understanding of engineering principles through hands-on, project-based, student-driven experiential learning.
What does this mean? It means that students are given an open-ended problem statement for which small teams of 2-3 students collaborate to develop a solution that meets the design objective and outperforms the work of competing teams. Students will benefit from the need to consider multiple-competing ideas, agreeing on a chosen solution, designing, building, testing and evaluating their work. They are encouraged to take design risks and accept that failure is not an end but the beginning of a new and improved design.
All students, not just those that take my courses, are also invited to join our robotics team. A "sport for the mind", Tiger Robotics Team 6016 competes in the FIRST Robotics Championship series. In its four years of existence, the team has been to the world championships twice, not because it has a killer robot, but because Hackettstown has great kids with extraordinary talents that involve much more than building a robot! The team won the Mid-Atlantic Region "Rookie All Star" and "Engineering Inspiration" awards that resulted in invitations to compete in the world championships in St. Louis (2016) and Detroit (2019).
Students will become problem-solvers, first and foremost. They will learn to use power tools and equipment; always a highlight in my courses. Whether students become inspired to pursue a STEAM career or not, they will be equipped with an approach to problem-solving that is directly applicable to their career of choice. They will also have fun!!
Photos are the property of Rick Russell