You are invited 4th NURC- Nessie Quest  

Where: Chandler High School, Aquatic Center.

(Park at W.Erie Street) .

When:June 12th, 2010  

Visit the teams starting 6:00 pm.

Challenge starts at 8:00 pm through the night.

View the Competition at the Chandler High School

Auditorium and Viewing rooms..

Media  can schedule visits to teams, setting, etc. 

during the technical presentations and qualifing

on Friday June the 11th. Call Carmen (480) 324-6378

Questions and media requests:  Call Carmen (480) 324-637

Thanks to all our sponsors!

Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies (PADT)

Tres Aquas Adventures - sail, SCUBA dive, travel

Honeywell

Lights Camera and Action

Si Se Puede Foundation

Carey Home Inspection Service, Inc.

!nventivity

SEAD Architecture

Nello's pizza in Tempe

Chandler High School

Carl Hayden High School and

Critical Mass Communications, LLC. 

For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Carmen Cornejo

(480) 324-6378

Carmen@criticalmassc.com

Situation and Challenges of Latina Immigrants Discussed in Forum

Washington Institute Focus Research on Arizona

What: Forum on Latina Immigrants and Public Policy

When: Friday April 16^th 2010, from 10:00 to 3:00 pm

Where: ASU Mercado. Fifth and Monroe Streets in downtown Phoenix Room C 340/350

The difficulties confronted by Latina Immigrants will be discussed on a forum at ASU Mercado on April the 16^th, 2010 in an event o organized by the Washington based Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR)

The forum titled New Families, New Friends: A Strategy Forum for Organizations Working to Help Latina Immigrants is part of the research project in three cities in the USA. This project explores the roles of religious communities and nonprofit organizations in advancing the rights and general well-being of Latina immigrants in Phoenix, Atlanta, and Northern Virginia. The forum on April 16^th will convene from 10am-3pm and will bring together approximately fifty clergy, advocates, researchers, and policy makers to discuss key local, state, and federal policies that affect immigrant women and organizations that assist them.

The panelist include Maricela Flores, Former Director, Domestic Violence program;  Magdalena Schwartz, Pastora, Discípulos del Reino; Cecilia Menjívar, Professor of Sociology, Arizona State  University; Carmen Cornejo, Executive Director, CADENA - DREAM Act Advocacy group; Lydia Guzman, President, Somos America;  Delle McCormick, Executive Director, Borderlinks.

Carmen Cornejo, immigrant and advocate for the DREAM Act, will talk about the barriers Latinas face to attain higher education and the policies at Federal and State level that are preventing them to reach college, even though there is tremendous potential and talent among female Hispanic immigrants.

She will detail how Prop. 300 had extremely limited the educational opportunities of some of the best students in the state,  imposing of triple tuition rates to students that are not being able to demonstrate permanent legal residency in the USA.

“After immigrant Latinas has surpassed many of the traditional barriers Hispanic women confront: poverty, lack of role models, traditional roles, ethnic discrimination, etc, undocumented immigrant Latinas find out that their dreams for higher education are blocked by anti-immigration policies that are stifling the lives of some of the best professional resources we can have in the country”, commented Carmen.

“Our work concentrates in educate the undocumented population about their options and seek policy change trough advocacy”, Carmen said.  “We have found out that the Latina Immigrant group we advocate for can be the most effective spokespersons for their own cause and we always include them in our efforts. We take them to Congressional offices in Arizona to speak to  elected officials so they can tell their stories and seek policy changes that will benefit them and even younger immigrant students.”

The day will begin with a welcome and overview of IWPR’s research project, followed by two panels of speakers who will describe their experiences in working with Latina immigrants and reflect on the impact of a specific policy on this work. Following the panels, there  will be roundtable discussions in which participants at each table reflect on a different current or proposed policy that was addressed by the panelists.

For more information on the DREAM Act go in Arizona go to www.dreamactaz.org For more information on the national student lead advocacy on the DREAM act go to www.dreamactivist.org

For more information on the Institute for Women’s Research Policy go to www.iwpr.org.

For immediate release

Media Contacts: Carmen Cornejo

Critical Mass Communications, LLC

carmen@criticalmassc.com  (480)324-6378

Fredi Lajvardi

coachfredi@hotmail.com     (480)266-9929

Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics Team Wins National Spirit of Innovation Award in the Aerospace Exploration Category.

Phoenix Area High School Students Demonstrates Excellence in Science and Technology Again.

Student members of the Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics teamfromCentral Phoenix won the Conrad Foundation’s Spirit of Innovation Awards in the Aerospace Exploration Category in a national science and technology competition that gathered some of the best high school students in the nation.

The students participating in this project are Jonathan Harris, Norma Irigoyen, David Olivaros, Bianca Rodriguez and Eduardo Fernandez.  The head mentor of the team is Faridodin (Fredi) Lajvardi.

The Falcons belong to the Carl Hayden Community High School which serves mainly underprivileged children in the Central Phoenix Corridor.

The Conrad Foundation challenges students and mentors to create innovative products that employ science and technology to solve real life problems, and can be later marketed. This year the foundation accepted submission for the science competition on the following categories: Aerospace Exploration, Renewable Energy, Green Schools and Space Nutrition.

The Falcons created an EVROV (Extra Vehicular Remotely Operated Vehicle) robot that astronauts could operate via WiFi. This robot will perform tasks in space without the need for the astronauts to leave the safety of the spacecraft. It can also be an extra set of eyes and hands to repair machines in space performing simple mechanical tasks.  For this EVROV the Falcons developed a 3 dimensional viewing system that will provide astronauts greater depth and accurate vision of the tasks to perform. The robot can be used for visual inspection in outer space quickly and cheaply. 

The development of the 3-D viewing system on the ROV was done with components donated by Intel Corp and uses Intel processors.

The Falcons not only developed the working prototype of the EVROV but backed up their creation with the technical documents necessary for later construction and possible commercialization.

The prize for the Aerospace Category involves $5000 to prepare for a national presentation in September before a team of aerospace experts to determine the feasibility of their invention. The team has also been invited by the Conrad Foundation to attend a national science fair on the Mall in Washington, DC as part of an exhibit by the Foundation, plus more national functions to be scheduled.

As part of the presentations, participant students had the opportunity to network with engineers, scientist, inventors and astronauts.

The Carl Hayden’s Falcons had the pleasure to meet Anioushe Ansari the first Iranian-American in space, among other personalities.

The Falcons have an intense schedule of presentations and national competitions and this week will leave to Atlanta to participate in the FIRST robotics National Championships.

For more information on the Conrad’s Foundation go to http://www.conradawards.org/

For more information on the Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics’ project go to http://falconroboticsteam842.web.officelive.com/SpiritofInnovationAwards.aspx

For more information on the 3D Vision System go: http://download.intel.com/design/intarch/papers/323097.pdf

For a video on the 3D Vision System go to: http://tinyurl.com/yz2ofn9

Critical Mass Communications, LLC

www.criticalmassc.com

For  Immediate Release

Media Contacts:      

Fredi Lajvardi

coachfredi@hotmail.com

Cell (480) 266 9929

Carmen Cornejo

carmen@criticalmassc.com

Cell (480) 324-6378

Carl Hayden’s Falcon Robotics Team Wins Distinctions, Scholarships During FIRST Arizona Regional

Gracious Professionalism Award won by celebrated High School Team

Phoenix, AZ . March the 15^th, 2010 -The Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics team was able to pull itself from the 48^th place it ranked at the beginning of the competition to the  14^th  place during  heart stopping  robotic  action at the FIRST (For inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Arizona Regional Competition.

The team was also able to garner a special award called Gracious Professionalism. FIRST defines Gracious Professionalism as a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others and respects individuals and the community.

“With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended”, states FIRST web site.http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=36

Besides this recognition Falcon Robotics’ team members were honored with special awards. Freshman Jesus Meraz won safety captain and Senior Norma Irigoyen won the Steve Sanghi Scholarship worth $4,000.

The competition took place on March 11^th - 13^th at the Veterans’ Memorial Coliseum and gathered High School students and their robotic creations in an event that celebrates technology and ingenuity each year.

The winner of this year’s competition top award, the Chairman’s Award, is a team from Waialua, Hawaii.

The game for the competition was called “Breakaway” and consisted of two alliances of three teams that competed in a 27-by-54-foot field with bumps, earning points by collecting soccer balls in goals. Additional bonus points were earned for each robot suspended in the air and not touching the field at the end of the match. View the game description and animation at:.http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/content.aspx?id=16209

2 teams from Mexico, specifically from Monterrey Tech Campus Toluca and Campus Queretaro, joined the competition giving the event an international environment.

The Falcon Robotics team is part of Carl Hayden Community High School, a public school on the west side of Central Phoenix.  86% of the students at Carl Hayden are eligible for free or reduced lunch and come from immigrant families where English is a second language and the parents may be monolingual Spanish speakers. In spite of obstacles, Carl Hayden Falcon robotics is one of the schools in the state that sends more students to engineering and science degrees mainly inspired by their robotics club.

The team had named the robots for this 2010 competition “Heather” and “Oscar”. “Heather” is named after Heather Ayala a counselor at Carl Hayden High School who died of cancer last year. Her son Jonathan Ayala is a student member of the team.

The Falcon team also built a twin robot named “Oscar” after Oscar Vazquez, original member of the “La Vida Robot” story who is an ASU Engineering graduate and is seeking re-entry into the USA. (To read about Oscar Vazquez ordeal go to http://tinyurl.com/yf5q3aq).

The Carl Hayden team  won in 2008 the coveted Chairman’s award at the International FIRST Competition, the top prize on FIRST Robotics, after demonstrating that they are not only capable of building competitive and functional robots but that the team makes real contributions to advance science and technology in their communities.

Carl Hayden Team keeps a tight schedule of robot building, public presentations, robot exhibitions and demos.  They also organize the FIRST Lego League and members are core elements on the organization of a national underwater competition called NURC (National Underwater Robotics Challenge). Visit www.h2orobots.org for more information on this competition.

Carl Hayden recently was named finalist in a national aerospace competition called the Pete Conrad Foundation. The team developed a 3-D display system live fed with cameras; a technology they hope can be applied to robots in space. The group will travel to California for the competition in early April, and until then will continue work on their project.

For more information on FIRST go to www.usfirst.org

To read match results go to http://www2.usfirst.org/2010comp/events/AZ/matchresults.html

To read all award winners go to http://www2.usfirst.org/2010comp/events/AZ/awards.html

For a video on the 3D Imager visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8siwriQk3Tg

Media Contacts:Fredi Lajvardi

coachfredi@hotmail.com

Cell (480) 266 9929

    Carl Hayden’s Falcon Robotics Ready for FIRST Regional

Award winning team continues promoting science and technology

Phoenix, AZ . March the 13th, 2010 -The award winning and internationally profiled Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics team is ready to participate on the FIRST (For inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Arizona Regional Competition at the Veterans memorial Coliseum with “Heather” and “Oscar”.  The competition will take place today  13^th and will gather High School students and their robotic creations in an event that celebrates technology and ingenuity.

The new game for the competition is called “Breakaway” and consists of two alliances of three teams that will compete in a 27-by-54-foot field with bumps, attempting to earn points by collecting soccer balls in goals. Additional bonus points will be earned for each robot suspended in air and not touching the field at the end of the match. View the game description and animation on the link below. http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/content.aspx?id=16209

The High School team belongs to Carl Hayden Community High School, a public school on the west side of Central Phoenix.  86% of the students at Carl Hayden are eligible for free or reduced lunch and come from immigrant families where English is not spoken. In spite of obstacles, Carl Hayden Falcon robotics is one of the schools on the state that sends more students to engineering and science degrees mainly inspired by their robotics club.

The teams had named their robots “Heather” and “Oscar”. “Heather” is named after Heather Ayala a counselor at Carl Hayden High School who died of cancer last year. Her son Jonathan Ayala is a student member of the team.

The Falcon team also built a twin robot named “Oscar” after Oscar Vazquez, original member of the “La Vida Robot” story who is an ASU Engineering graduate and is seeking re-entry into the USA. (To read about Oscar Vazquez ordeal go to http://tinyurl.com/yf5q3aq

The Carl Hayden team  won in 2008 the coveted Chairman’s award, the top prize on FIRST Robotics after demonstrating that they are not only capable of building competitive and functional robots but the team makes real contributions to advance science and technology in their communities.

Carl Hayden Team keeps a tight schedule of robot building, public presentations, robot exhibitions and demos.  They also organize the FIRST Lego League and members are core elements on the organization a national underwater competition called NURC (National Underwater Robotics Challenge). Visit www.h2orobots.org for more information on this competition.

Carl Hayden recently was named finalist in a national aerospace competition called the Pete Conrad Foundation. The team developed a 3-D display system live fed with cameras; a technology they hope can be applied to robots in space. The group will travel to California for the competition in early April, and until then will continue work on their project.

For more information on FIRST go to www.usfirst.org

For a video on the 3D Imager visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8siwriQk3Tg

Carl Hayden Falcons robotics team is an award winning high school team profiled in articles such as “La Vida Robot”  http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.04/robot.html  and  on national prime time in Nightline http://www.schooltube.com/video/50141/ABC-Nightline-story-on-Falcon-Robotics. 

The innovators at Carl Hayden developed a 3-D camera and viewing system with the support of Intel in Chandler. They propose to incorporate their 3-D live viewing system in their space camera so space station astronauts can better view and evaluate the external condition of their space abode with their “remote eyes” in space.