Andover Employees Help to Promote High School Science Curriculum
Team from Shrewsbury High and Compaq Rules at Robotics Competition


Andover Employees Help to Promote High School Science Curriculum

Compaq employees were on hand for the 15th Annual Methuen (Massachusetts) High School Science Fair in March. Nearly 100 inventors and engineers - make that junior grade - turned out for event. The major fields of science (chemistry, biology, and physics) were represented in student experiments that ranged from tracking the performance of baseballs to working with microphones to determining the efficiency of water wheels.

Each experiment was judged strictly according to standards established by regional and state science fairs. Criteria included scientific approach, student advancement, ingenuity, creativity, originality of notebook, and thoroughness. "We were told to be critical and demanding, and the students were more than up for the challenge," said Compaq's George Kopps, who has judged the experiments for the last five years.

George was just one of six Compaq employees who have been judges for five years. Others who have helped in this way are Jim Catania, Mike Galvin, Nancy Kenney, Tim McCarthy, and Susan Napolitano. "Because we've done this for five years, we've had the unique experience of watching many of the experiments evolve into mature demonstrations of the scientific method," said Kopps.

Team from Shrewsbury High and Compaq Rules at Robotics Competition

The Shrewsbury High School Robotics team and its Compaq partners came on strong at a recent national robotics competition in Philadelphia. The team qualified for the finals and semifinals and finished third out of 42 high school teams competing on the East Coast. "Placing so high was beyond anyone's wildest dreams," said Bill Laprade, who was one of eight Alpha™ engineers who worked with 30 high school students. Their entry - a four-wheel drive, six-wheeled robot - picked up and collected 13-inch balls and then lifted them into a 6-foot-high container.

The March 25 competition was sponsored by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and supported with $25,000 from Compaq, which also provided two high-performance PCs for the AutoDesk animation portion of the competition. The robotics competition was a bicoastal event, at least for Compaq, which also sponsored a team at Palo Alto High School in California.

The first-year Shrewsbury/Compaq team competed with schools sponsored by DaimlerChrysler, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Delphi Automotive Systems, Walt Disney, Dupont, General Motors, Black and Decker, Con Edison, and Boeing. "We did the Compaq name proud if I do say so myself," said Bill. "Many schools had several years experience, but our strategy and teamwork made the difference."

This was a true team effort by students, teachers, parents and Compaq Alpha engineers - Jim Jenson, Binto John, John Kozura, Scott Weiland, Suma Kovvali, Nick Palmer, Darko Gojanovic, and Bill. Together they put in more than 5,000 hours over three months to help to conceive, design, and build the robot.

Dressed in Compaq in New England hats and jackets, the Shrewsbury and Compaq team and robot were on FOX Philadelphia television news. Plans are to have the students bring the robot to Shrewsbury and to a local IEEE meeting. The team was nicknamed the Alpha Colonials. "Remember," said Bill with a broad smile, "nothing runs like an Alpha!"