UA students going to NASA competition
WVUA (Tuscaloosa) – May 13
The University of Alabama College of Engineering is sending a team of students to a NASA competition. The Alabama Astrobotics team has built a digging robot that will compete against other robots by navigating an obstacle course that will simulate the surface of mars. The robots must collect martian soil and transport it back across the course, team spokesman, Kellen Schroeter, explained. Some of the finer points about the robot: “One of the things that we are very proud about in our design is a modular approach. So our base is a completely separate robot from the digging part that can separate. You can put on a new digging robot or a new driving robot and uh they kinda combine together like Lego pieces.” Alabama won the competition in 2012 and got third last year. The engineering school is also sending a team to Utah to compete in a rocketry competition.
Blueprints guides youths through process
Florence Times Daily – May 12
For college student Marshall Burrell, being a mentor for the Blueprints College Access Initiative is a calling. Burrell, who is interested in a medical career and will transfer to Auburn University this fall from Northwest-Shoals Community College in Phil Campbell, said sometimes all students need to know for success is where to look for help. The Blueprints program, which started in 2009 as a project of Alabama Possible, matches current college students with high school students from low-income families to work with their younger peers, guiding them through the process of getting to college and finding the money to do pay for it … Alabama Possible Executive Director Kristina Scott said the program is designed to catch those high school students who could easily fall through the cracks, but “would be good college students.” She credits Sheffield native Nicole Bohannon, a student at the University of Alabama School of Law, as founding the Blueprints project. “She saw a need for these students to have access to this information and the networking opportunities for them are endless,” Scott said. “She worked tirelessly to get this project going and today it’s paying off for these students. We hope to sustain what we have and go even deeper with the program.”
Fairhope residents urged to share vision of city; questionnaire part of Communities of Excellence planning program
Al.com – May 12
Residents are being asking to share their vision for the city, help develop a mission statement for the next five years and list opportunities and threats as part of strategic planning process. As one of a half-dozen Alabama municipalities selected to participate in the 2013 Alabama Communities of Excellence program, Fairhope is in need of public’s help in an effort to form a leadership development program and prepare an up-to-date strategic plan as part of the second phase of a three-phase approach. Phase one of the process began with a visit from the ACE assessment team, including individuals from the University of Alabama Center for Economic Development, Auburn University, Alabama Historical Commission and Alabama Regional Planning Commission among other, on Sept. 5. The group along with several community leaders conducted an informal review of the city and toured the community.