The 5-year-old robotics team is looking for a few qualified engineering- and business-minded adults who are willing to donate their knowledge and time to assist the team in building a robot that the school can enter in 2004 robotics competitions.

It is the skilled expertise provided by adults that makes it possible for the program to flourish and grow, says Willow Glen High School Robotics Team President Rashi Khare.

Many of the students who sign up for the robotics team have little or no engineering or business experience, but are motivated to learn. But the lack of technical knowledge makes it critical for the team to find adults who are willing to help with the electronics, programming and engineering aspects involved in building a large robot. And the high school's team president has definite qualifications in mind for the mentors interested in the job.

She is hoping to recruit mentors who are team players with technical and programming skills—adults with the know-how to build a robot. And she says these mentors need to be willing to spend a great deal of time with the team, which includes an intensive six-week period starting in January. Most of the volunteering takes place after school or on weekends, says Khare, so volunteers need to be flexible.

Yet, even after Khare and her teammates find these adults willing to help the team, they have another significant hurdle in their robot-building and -competition process—money.

Like many high school sports and extracurricular activities, the cost of participating in an after-school activity can add up quickly. And when thousands of dollars go into building a durable robot that will be able to endure the competitions, dollars are often at a premium. Then there are the travel expenses—sending students to the competitions increases the cost even more.

It costs about $5,000 for the team to register for the area's preeminent competition, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST). It's a competition in which high school teams put their technical and strategic prowess to the test. Each team tries to outmaneuver the others by demonstrating solutions to a preset engineering challenge in a competitive game environment. To many, these challenges are better known as "robot battles."

The pricey entrance fee allows the team to attend the event and receive a kit of parts and a manual of game rules and regulations. The kit includes motors, sensors, shafts, bearings and other materials that can be used in the design and construction of the robots.

The teams also receive a multichannel radio-control system and a 12V battery power supply. The kit is meant to provide each team with equivalent parts to make the basis of the competition fair for all the teams competing.

But the parts provided by the FIRST competition are not enough to build a winning robot, Khare says. The robotics team usually shells out an additional $2,000 for more parts, and also utilizes parts from previous robots to soup up their creations.

In prior years, the team has asked area businesses to sponsor their efforts, and this year is no different. They are currently looking for Silicon Valley businesses that will consider funding portions of the club's robot.

"We try to give the sponsors some benefits for giving their money," Khare says. "We'll tell them how we can publicize their name and how it can be televised during the FIRST competition on the Discovery Channel."

The 2003 FIRST challenge was called the "stack attack." The game required robots to collect and stack plastic storage containers on their side of the playing field.

In 2003 alone, more than 20,000 students representing 800 teams from almost every state and Canada, Brazil, Great Britain and Germany participated in FIRST. Teams participate in regional competitions, striving toward the ultimate goal—the annual championship event. These competitions combine the practical application of science and technology, showcasing the ability of high school students .

Willow Glen High School teacher and robotics team adviser Gay Kunz worked with the 2003 team and is committed to the 2004 year even though it involves a great deal of spare time—from getting students to sign permission slips to overseeing the team's meetings. But she appreciates how gratifying the robotics-team experience is to the students who participate.

"It is pretty intense," she says. "They get six weeks to build the robot. They probably spend close to 200 hours after school and on weekends building the robot."

The experience provides the students with more than just a moving machine. They also learn important business skills, how to coordinate themselves as a team, the ins and outs of technical building and the importance of teamwork, she says.

Kunz also stresses the critical need for funding and help from the community to enable the students to achieve their goals, have a rewarding experience and a successful competition. The robotics team has already received financial support through private funding from the Willow Glen Middle School and High School Foundation, a group of parents, faculty, alumni and neighbors in the community that is committed to academic excellence at local schools. Yet more is needed to reach the team's financial goal.

In 2000, when Willow Glen High School Principal Elaine Farace found out she was going to be the school's principal, she says she was eager to learn more about the robotics team. Even before she officially started at the school, the robotics team sent her an invitation to one of its competitions at San José State University.

"When you go to a competition, you see that it is like a sport," she says. "I like their creative inventiveness and camaraderie. They have that spirit that you also see on a football team."

She adds, "They even marched in this year's homecoming parade."

The students not only take pride in the robotics team, but in many other activities at the high school.

Philip Nguyen is a senior at the high school, but it's his first year on the team. He heard about the robotics team through a schoolwide announcement, and since he was interested in business and wanted to learn more about robotics, he decided to join.

A couple of weeks ago, he was the "human player" in a robot competition at the Cal Games at Woodside High School.

As the human player, he had 10 seconds to put boxes onto the playing field. Three other human players from different schools also put boxes onto the field, and then the robots were set to "autonomous mode" for a brief period before the teams could control them via remote control. Each team then tried to be the first to complete the box-moving event. Nguyen and his Willow Glen High School team placed second in the Cal Games, a considerable distinction for the team.

"It's fun when we get to the competitions," he says. "My number-one goal with the team is to broaden my range of knowledge about computers, robots and that kind of stuff."

In addition to the robotics team, Nguyen is also involved with the jazz choir, mock trials, and the badminton team and is the senior class public relations officer.

Another member, high school senior Tomy Giang, also does public relations for the robotics team. His responsibilities involve writing letters to businesses as the group looks for sponsors.

Giang is interested in engineering and says this is the first year he has been fully committed to the team. When he graduates, he wants to become a computer engineer and sees his involvement with the robotics team as a good opportunity for furthering his professional goals.

As for the team's newest robot—Rambo IV—Giang doesn't want to give away too many details about the team's building plans for the upcoming competitions, but he says they will hopefully be using some new technology that will eclipse last year's robot.

In addition to his duties on the robotics team, he is also the senior class president.

Khare is excited that approximately 30 people are on this year's team and hopes to find a mentor soon who can assist in the team's endeavors. Ideally, it will be an experienced leader who can help the group start planning the next robot.

"I like all the people on the team so much," Khare says. We have so much diversity and experienced teammates to build a great robot."

For more information on how you can become a mentor or donate money to the Willow Glen High School Robotics Team, call 408.535.6330 or email the team at robotics_256@yahoo.com