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Students get mechanical at PCC technology camp

Program gives students an edge in manufacturing parts for robotic creations

By Ray Pitz

The Beaverton Valley Times, Jul 17, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A unique summer school program is giving students from several high school robotics clubs a leg up on the future creation and tweaking of their mechanical contraptions.

On Monday, students in a machine manufacturing technology camp at Portland Community College’s Sylvania Campus, were busy in the college’s machine shop, getting used to band saws, drill presses, lathes and milling machines.

What the 18 students and two adults were hoping to get out of the three-week course was the ability to craft parts that will allow their robotic creations to run more efficiently.

Debra Mumm-Hill, regional director for the Pacific Northwest for FIRST, which stands for “For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,” said 14 different high schools took PCC up on the offer for the class.

The program attracted students from Westview, Jesuit, Tualatin, Oregon City, Catlin Gabel and other area high schools.

“These kids love being together because they’re like-minded,” said Mumm-Hill, whose organization sponsors annual robotics competitions.

She said the hands-on experiences of the class were important to students studying technological fields.

“Many engineers in America have never built anything,” she pointed out.

On the other side of the machine shop Monday, Zeno LeHericy, who belongs to Tualatin High School’s robotics team, TETRA, was busy milling a plastic box to store his newly created ball peen hammers.

“This class has been wonderful,” he said. “I’ve learned so much. It’s been a ton of fun.”

LeHericy, who will be a junior at Riverdale High School in Dunthorpe, is a founding member of the Tualatin team, which now numbers 27 students. His team had an impressive year as well.

“We got to semi finals in Seattle,” he said. “It’s more fun than you could ever imagine.”

LeHericy said crafting the ball peen hammers, a requirement for every student in the class, allowed him to use all the shop’s major manufacturing tools. That made him somewhat of a whiz when it came time to create his second hammer.

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