The Psi- -Bernauts

GIRL'S R.I.S.E. MISSION:

R.I.S.E. is an acronym that stands for Raising Interest in Science and Engineering. The object of the program is to motivate more females to go into the male-dominated field of engineering. R.I.S.E. is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, and the sessions take place at the Miami Museum of Science. Through the program, we meet female engineers, and make different things, then compete our projects against each other. We learn countless things about engineering and science, but we also learn about teamwork and responsibility.

TEAM ROLES:

The Psi team consists of five budding engineers: Adriana Antunez-de-Mayolo, Mollie Farber, Maggie Galvez, Melissa Izaguirre, Ashleigh Smith, volunteer Santania Jean-Bapsiste, and our mentor, Janice Athias.

Maggie Galvez; Project Engineer: "Hello,I'm Maggie, and I am the Project Engineer. I am in charge of the operations of the team. I check the assignments, ask questions on the projects, and lead team discussions relating to the processes and results of the project. I am also is responsible for the safety of the team. As the Project Engineer, I am the author of the team journal, wherein I record the daily activities of the Psi team.

Adriana Antunez-de-Mayolo; Test Engineer: "Hi, my name is Adriana, and I am in charge of collecting and recording information from tests on team worksheets, data tables, or graphs. I work with the project engineer to check the accuracy of the data gained by the team. I am also responsible for reporting the team results to the class and to the judges on competition day (both oral and written). I also present any team comments on the activities that were completed. I am also in charge of digitally modifing all drawings or sketches to be added to the web page.

Ashleigh Smith; Facilities Engineer: "Hi, my name is Ashleigh and as the Facilities Engineer, I'm in charge of the equipment and materials used by the team. I am also responsible for the distribution, and maintenance of all items used for the project. I can also assign organization tasks to other team members if it's nessecary. I also work on the team journal with Maggie, as well as drawing sketches of the Car and Line Tracker to be used in team research."

Melissa Izaguirre; Developmental Engineer: "Hey, what's up? My name is Melissa and I'm the first Developmental Engineer. I'm in charge of the design and construction of the Line Tracker and the Car. I give design and model construction tasks to other team members while I develop a list of materials to be used in constructing the models. Along with the facilities engineer, I collects materials for the models and supervise the construction of them. I also help Mollie with the team web page if she is having a problem."

Mollie Farber; Developmental Engineer: "Hi! I'm Mollie, and I am the second Developmental Engineer. I am in charge of the design and construction of the team web page. I plot out the layout of the page and get the team's input at different stages of the page. I combine all the ideas of the team into one page while working with the group to bring their ideas to life. I also work with Melissa to complete the Line Tracker and the Car if they need any extra help."

Santania Jean-Baptiste; Volunteer: "Hi, my name is Santania, and I was in the Psi team for first session of the Girl's R.I.S.E. summer program, and I liked it so much, I decided to come back as a volunteer for the second session. As a volunteer, I help the Psi team with problems that arise during the production of the car and the line-tracker. I also supervise the team to make sure that they are on scedule with all of their projects. Since I have done these projects before, I know I can help them to do their best."

Janice Athias; Mentor: "Hi, my name is Janice Athias. I am a graduate of Florida international University with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (4/97). As mentor for the Psi--Bernauts team, my main function is to encourage, motivate, and assist the girls to experiance simple but challenging engineering and science activities. The activites are designed to give a basic understanding of each engineering discipline. Being involved in Girl's R.I.S.E. program has fulfilled one of my personal dreams. The program allows me to help and share with others some of the challenges that I encountered while persuing my engineering degree. It gives me great pleasure to be part of the Girl's R.I.S.E. program."

THE PROJECTS:

The Journals: Two different journals must be entered into the competition. One is the team journal. This journal describes the teams endeavors in detail (field trips, team meetings, project advancement, etc.). Along with this journal, the personal journals of the team are also scored and counted toward the team's total score.

The Team Web Page: The team web page was required to tell about the R.I.S.E. program and the projects of the team. The page was scored on creativity and accuracy.

Aside from the journal and the web page, two different robotic projects had to be completed in order to enter the completion:

The Electric Car:

Our first challenge was to build a battery-powered car 10cm x 15cm x 10cm. To do this, we used a metal frame, gears, a DC motor, two AA batteries with holders, wires, four wheels, and rubber. Our car had to be built so that it was able to carry the weight of 12 ounces up a three meter board at a 20 degree angle. We are also required to have a working on/off switch to regulate the power to the motor. Sharp edges are prohibited from use on the car. Our team name is required to be placed on a small portion of the car. Shown below is the final design of our car.

The Line Tracker:

The line tracker is a robot that follows any black line drawn on white paper. This is done by the emission of infra-red rays. Since the color white reflects heat and black absorbs it, the black line absorbs the heat of the rays. The robot then follows the trail of infra-red light on the paper. The line tracker competes against other trackers on to see which one can follow the trail the most accurately. This trail consists of lines and curves.

FIELD TRIPS:

The University of Miami:

On this trip we went to the engineering department University of Miami. We saw many different fields of engineering, such as biomedical engineering, robotics, environmental engineering, industrial engineering, computer engineering, and structural engineering. There were many interesting demonstrations and student projects to see. For example, when we went to the biomedical lab, we saw an artificial heart valve made of pig's skin. We also saw a cement canoe, a two-person submarine, an elaborate robotic conveyor belt, and an award-winning computer animated movie. We also saw a demonstration about how to see whether or not water was poisoned with certain bacteria. One thing is for sure: we certainly left the campus with more than we came; we gained knowledge of the broad field of engineering (we also gained tee-shirts).

The Cordis Plant, a Johnson and Johnson subsidiary:

We took the bus to Miami Lakes to learn about biomedical and industrial engineering in the Cordis Plant. As we walked into the conference room, we were all shocked at the number of patents that this company had acquired (a whole wall-full!!!) After watching a short film about the history of Johnson and Johnson, we had lunch (pizza and cookies) and talked to some of the engineers who worked at Cordis. They showed us different medical supplies that were produced there, such as catheters, which go into cardiac arteries to unclog them. Half of our program got to go on a tour to see the process of making catheters. The plant had very high sanitary standards-we all had to wear hair caps, and the men were required to wear moustache and beard covers! We were all surprised to see how many steps were required to make such a simple tube. It was a thrill for all of us to see such mass production.

Epcot:

Once we arrived at Epcot after 5 hours on the bus, we were sent with our chaperones to wander the park for a few hours before meeting for lunch. At Epcot, the park is not only divided into exhibits (like Spaceship Earth and The Land) but you can also go to see different countries, like France and China. Here is what the team thought was the most interesting:

Maggie

"I liked the Innoventions buildings, since they were very scientific, and they were also interactive as well as interesting.

Adriana

"I liked 'Italy' because of the unusual (but beautiful) buildings that were there."

Ashleigh

"I liked Spaceship Earth since it was a journey into the future, and it was very realistic!"

Melissa

"I liked the giant fountains, since it must have taken much math and science to figure out how to shape the water."

Mollie

"I really liked the show, 'Honey I Shrunk the Audience' since it was not only 3-D, but it was also interactive (the characters seemed to interact with the audience)."

Santania

"I liked the different graphics from all of the shows and the interesting information that the shows provided."

Janice

"I enjoyed Universe of Energy because it showed environment from the beginning to our [energy] goals for the future."

SLIDE SHOW:

These are some selected pictures of our work over the session.

Mollie, Melissa, and Ashleigh discuss their ideas for the line tracker and the car as they look over the rules and regulations. "All in a day's work!"

Ashleigh and Maggie hold the car upside-down to get a better look at the battery/wire connection in hopes to find out why the wheels aren't turning. Ashleigh connects a wire, and the wheels start whirring! Way to go, Ash!

Melissa surfs the net for graphics that can be used in the team logo or for the web page. Copy! Paste! "My work is never done!"

Mollie works on one of our first electricity experiments: using a breadboard. To do this, she uses resistors, clips, wires, and small lights. What an illuminating experience!

Maggie looks at the motor of the electric car to try to figure out a way to make the wheels turn faster. Vroom, Vroom! Off we go!

T= Team

E= Energy

A= Activities

M= Managment

W= Wisdom

O= Organized

R= Reliable

K= Knowledge

Our Favorite Links:

Science Learning Network

The Society of Women Engineers

Miami Mueseum of Science

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

The Psi team would like to thank our mentor, Janice Athias for all of her help throughout the session. We know that we could not have overcome our problems without her expert advice. We would also like to thank our volunteer, Santania Jean-Baptiste for her assistance with the car, line tracker, and the web page. Her experiance was a great advantange to us. Thanks also go to program director, Wendy James for helping to teach us different web-page techniques (such as converting pictures, feathering, etc.). Last, but certainly not least, we would like to thank the judges for coming to judge our projects, as well as parents and friends who have been so supportive throughout the program.

E-mail the Psi team at: psi@miamisci.org