6 minute read

BUILDING INTEREST IN ENGINEERING ONE LEGO AT A TIME

from Roundtable Magazine ǀ Spring 2023

from Roundtable Magazine ǀ Spring 2023, page 16

Interning at the White House

Jake Speyer, a software engineering senior at California Baptist University, competed twice in the First Lego League Challenge when he was in middle school.

When he heard CBU would sponsor teams, he was excited to help.

“That’s what got me into STEM as a kid,” Speyer said. “I was super down to come back and help and be like that coach that I had when I was a kid that got me all excited about it.”

For the first time, CBU sponsored six teams for the First Lego League and hosted the First Lego League Regional Tournament during the fall 2022 semester. First Lego League aims to advance science, technology, engineering and math.

Each team had designed a Lego robot and then built and programmed it for the competition, which involved various challenges such as pushing, pulling or transporting an object. Students aged 9–14 learned skills such as coding, building and teamwork. They also had to research types of energy, identify an energy-related problem and design a solution.

In the competition, teams competed in matches that lasted 2.5 minutes. During that time, each robot, controlled by a drive team of students, attempted to complete as many of the 15 challenges as possible on the Lego League table. They also presented their energy research.

The Gordon and Jill Bourns College of Engineering provided a meeting space, robot kits, competition sponsorship and student mentors for the teams. NAVSEA Corona and an individual donor assisted with equipment and finances as well.

Speyer mentored the team named Powered by the Son. He gave the youths tips along the way, but they built the robot and did the coding.

“They did a really good job. I don’t think a lot of people realize how complex it is. An outsider may say, ‘They’re just playing with Legos,’ but they’re actually coding or building a robot,” Speyer said.

At the qualifying tournament, Powered by the Son received first place for robot design and enough points to move on to the regional competition.

Speyer said the biggest challenge was making sure everyone had a chance to both program and build. At first, a lot of them did not want to touch the robot or the programming interface because they were worried about making a mistake.

“However, once they realized everyone on the team made mistakes including myself, and that I was there to help guide them through the process, I noticed they became much more relaxed — laughing when programs went wrong and cheering for each other when missions succeeded,” Speyer said.

The College of Engineering became involved in the Lego challenge to make engineering more accessible, said Dr. Phil van Haaster, dean of the College of Engineering. CBU is also planning a First Lego League bootcamp this summer.

“The College of Engineering recognizes that we have a depth of knowledge not meant to be contained within the walls of our building,” van Haaster said. “We want to assist our community by donating our time, talent and facility so young men and women can explore their God-given skills and develop a deeper passion for STEM fields.”

The college regularly engages in mentoring in STEM activities throughout the community, van Haaster said.

“Having college students share their passion for engineering is contagious to other young boys and girls just learning the meaning of the word ‘engineering,’” van Haaster said.

Isabel Ramientos, an electrical and computer engineering sophomore, mentored the Brick Boyz and the Lego Minus teams. She said it was a fun opportunity to teach children about what it means to be an engineer.

Ramientos, who played with Lego bricks as a child, learned that simple solutions are OK.

“Kids learn more by discovering their own solutions by themselves,” Ramientos said. “Even if the solution was simple, the important part was that those solutions worked and could be built upon in the following years when they have more experience with programming and sensors.”

Seeing the youths successfully complete a challenge on the table after hours of hard work and frustration was rewarding, both to the youths and mentors.

“I hope the kids learned how to work as a team because that’s a skill you need for any workplace,” Ramientos said. “I hope they learned that every person in a team is important, and it takes everyone making an effort to do their job in order to achieve success.”

Jason Heinrich, a mechanical engineering sophomore, mentored the Crawdads team. He also had participated in First Lego League in middle school. After high school, he taught Lego enrichment programs.

“I learned that being a good mentor doesn’t mean you need to have it all figured out,” Heinrich said. “Lego dramatically redesigned the robot control system since I last used it, so there was a lot of hands-on trial and error that got us going. My favorite part was having the kids explain to me how to program after they got it working.”

His biggest reward was sharing the lessons that he has learned.

“Explaining the Pythagorean theorem using Lego pieces was some of the best fun I’ve had in a while,” Heinrich said. “I hope that for any student with an interest in engineering, our season lit a spark for that passion. The challenges and ideas we tackled will carry them into many engineering adventures.”

Speyer, whose nicknames from the team included Mr. Jake and Yoda, said when he participated in the league as a child, his mentors and coaches were hands-off — letting them make mistakes, learn from them and have fun.

“Seeing how passionate my team became about programming as the weeks went by made me feel that I had metaphorically passed the torch to another generation of kids who may pursue STEM as a career after competing in FLL just like I did,” Speyer said.

528

NUMBER OF BRICKS IN OPTIONAL EXPANSION SET

NUMBER OF BRICKS IN THE ROBOT SET

2,193

604 NUMBER OF BRICKS IN THE CHALLENGE SET FOR THE LEGO LEAGUE TABLE

Thousands of alumni, families and students attended California Baptist University’s Homecoming on Feb. 10-11, 2023.

The packed weekend for Lancer Nation welcomed alumni back to campus and brought together former and current Lancers and their families to celebrate.

“Homecoming is all about connecting Lancers from different generations,” said Josh Moss, senior director of alumni, parent and donor engagement.

The weekend kicked off with a lively carnival on the Front Lawn featuring rides and games, a funhouse, food trucks and live music. The Alumni Awards Dinner honored 2023 alumni award winners and five new inductees into the CBU Athletics Hall of Fame. The following day included a 50-year reunion for the class of 1973, a reunion for the Golden Lancers (classes of 1950-1972) and a hymn sing. Attendees also enjoyed a pre-game party prior to the men’s basketball game. CBU played West Coast Baptist College, a replacement for New Mexico State University, which bowed out at the last minute.

“Our goal is to bring alumni onto campus and give them a chance to see how much we’ve grown and developed as a campus community and also to just plug in, to connect with the current deans and to mix with each other and to be reunited,” Moss said.

Jessica Palacios, senior liberal studies major, went to the carnival on the Front Lawn to enjoy the rides and fun atmosphere. She views Homecoming’s role as an external event that reaches beyond the student community as a strength for the school.

“It gets the community involved and inspires people who don’t go here to think of CBU as an option to come to school,” Palacios said.

Pat Hjalmarson (’73) came to celebrate her 50-year reunion. Her favorite memory was basketball, since her husband, Bjorn “Bud” Hjalmarson, played. She started in the fall of 1968, the year the Van Dyne Field House was built.

“When I was here back in the ’70s, there were probably 800 students or less, so everything has just grown,” she said.

Lillian Jezik (’67) attended Homecoming to reconnect with former classmates and to see the changes that have happened on campus.

“It’s not only the buildings — it’s a tangible way of seeing the dreams that many of the founders had,” Jezik said. “They had some kind of a glimpse of what this institution would become.”

Moss said more than 4,000 attended Homecoming one of the largest events of the year on campus. Although many of the weekend activities are alumni centered, he said that Homecoming is an event that all Lancers can enjoy, both former and current students.

“One thing that’s really important to us is to make sure students understand that they’re part of Homecoming,” Moss said. “We want them to connect with alumni. We want them to understand and see that once you graduate from CBU, you’re a Lancer for life. We hope as students they enjoy the memories they are making and that they can come back as alumni and connect with the university and continue to be part of what it means to be a Lancer.”