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Since our start as a robotics team in 2014, we continue to grow each year. Our purpose is to give students with a passion for robotics an outlet to express that passion through designing, building, testing, programming, and competing with our robots against universities from around the world. We put knowledge learned in the classroom to the test through computer programming, 3D printing, mechanical design principles, and manufacturing techniques. Using VEX materials allows for quick mock-ups of design concepts and further prototyping of successful designs, which can then be integrated into the final robot build.
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We also use this organization as a platform to coordinate community outreach and volunteer efforts for high school, middle school, and elementary school robotics teams and events throughout the metro-Milwaukee Area. Many of our members are active mentors for high school students participating in robotics and STEM programs. One particular program is FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), an organization similar to VEX, through which many of our team members are alumni. Along with mentoring younger robotics enthusiasts, many of our team members also volunteer and referee at robotics competitions at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Our organization began in 2016 after the Robotics Sub-team of our American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) chapter grew too big to sustain with the other two sub-teams in ASME. Since that year, we've continued to grow from what was 5 active members to now more than 18 consistently active team members, and we are only expecting to grow larger!
One of the biggest programs the Robotics Association participates in is the VEX U Robotics Competition. VEX U draws the best and brightest engineering minds representing universities from all over the United States, Mexico, Europe, and China. In our short tenure, our organization has carried on a tradition of success, frequently winning the "Excellence Award" and qualifying for the World Championship event in Louisville, Kentucky.
As we look toward future opportunities to grow beyond competitive robots, the Robotics Association wants to build a Star Wars BB-8 robot, as well as a frisbee-shooter robot that we can use to demonstrate at university events. We would also like to move away from limiting ourselves to the control system provided by VEX U and shift towards open-source hardware like the Arduino and RaspberryPi 2 Platforms.
Our organization began in 2016 after the Robotics Sub-team of our American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) chapter grew too big to sustain with the other two sub-teams in ASME. Since that year, we've continued to grow from what was 5 active members to now more than 18 consistently active team members, and we are only expecting to grow larger!
One of the biggest programs the Robotics Association participates in is the VEX U Robotics Competition. VEX U draws the best and brightest engineering minds representing universities from all over the United States, Mexico, Europe, and China. In our short tenure, our organization has carried on a tradition of success, frequently winning the "Excellence Award" and qualifying for the World Championship event in Louisville, Kentucky.
As we look toward future opportunities to grow beyond competitive robots, the Robotics Association wants to build a Star Wars BB-8 robot, as well as a frisbee-shooter robot that we can use to demonstrate at university events. We would also like to move away from limiting ourselves to the control system provided by VEX U and shift towards open-source hardware like the Arduino and RaspberryPi 2 Platforms.
2019-2020 Officers
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PresidentEvan Hicks
[email protected] |
Back in 2011, I entered high school with little to no direction with what I wanted to do in life. I soon found out about the school's Robotics Club, and soon after joining, I was hooked. Not only was I fascinated by robotics, but I also quickly decided on a career path in engineering. Flash forward 8 years and I still mentor my high school robotics team and have helped establish and lead this robotics organization at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where I am a senior studying Mechanical Engineering. This is my 5th year as a member of the Robotics Association at UWM and 3rd year serving as President. It's incredibly rewarding to work with such a passionate group of students and every year the team grows both in membership and skills. I can't wait to see what this upcoming season holds for us.
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TreasurerPauline Scharping
[email protected] |
I am currently a junior studying mechanical engineering. I joined the Robotics Association at UWM in college because I wanted to apply my classroom knowledge to something that was hands on. I was a member of a robotics organization in high school and wanted to continue the learning I experienced there. The Robotics Association has allowed me to engage in hands-on work designing, building, and testing a real-life product, as well as troubleshooting and problem-solving. As an officer this year, I have also begun to get into the project management side of things, and look forward to leading the building of our competition robot this year.
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Project LeadSam Hoffman
[email protected] |
I have always liked making things and before college it was easy to do. There were a multitude of art classes and lots of free time to spend creating things and playing around with that side of my brain. So when I got to college I spend some time finding a place where I could make something. And I found that Robotics has given me that opportunity. I not only get to work with my hands and think of and implement new ideas, I get to see lots of ideas and creativity from the other members in the club and other teams from across the world as we all work to complete the same goal. Getting to work with my hands and see something come together with myself and the other members of the team that ends up a working thing is an amazing experience and I am happy that I get this time to work like this in college.
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PR/Outreach ManagerJeremy Wissell
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Jeremy is a freshman at UWM. He participated in VEX EDR throughout high school building and programming and joined UWM Robotics to continue making robotics. Jeremy focuses mainly on programming but also helps build the robots.
