Students gear up for da Vinci, a robot surgeon
October 18, 2011
Swedish/Issaquah hosts local schools for robotics demonstration
Michael Petkov, Swedish Medical Center robotics charge nurse, sets the arms on a da Vinci Surgical System robot to perform procedures on a dish of plastic pieces and a grape. By Greg Farrar
The surgeon of the future is clad in gray plastic and operates using a quartet of spindly arms.
The brain in the surgeon of the future — a robot named for a legendary inventor — is a flesh-and-blood physician at the controls. The surgeon guides the robot amid procedures and, like a scene lifted from a sci-fi flick, guide tool-tipped arms to cut infinitesimal incisions and perform tasks inside the confines of a human body.
The future arrives: Drive a robot at Issaquah High School
May 31, 2011
NEW — 3:15 p.m. May 31, 2011
The community is invited to drive a robot and eat a savory dinner at the annual spaghetti feed and silent auction, organized by the Issaquah Robotics Society and the Issaquah High School FIRST team.
Hungry empowered nerds of any age can start the night at 7 p.m. Friday at Issaquah High School, 700 Second Ave. S.E. Tickets cost $8 per person.
The fundraiser benefits both high school clubs. The FIRST team is an international robotics league. The acronym stands For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.
FIRST members work with teachers and community members to create hands-on opportunities for kindergarten through 12th-grade students, teaching them about science, technology, engineering, mathematics and business.
Issaquah High School robotics hosts auction
June 1, 2010
Want to help spur technological advancement? Fund a robot.
Members of the Issaquah High School Robotics Team are hosting a silent auction to help them build skills they can apply in the future.
Each year, the team builds an operational robot that competes as part of the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology program. FIRST’s nationally renowned engineers, scientists and computer software engineers create a problem distributed to teams across the nation that to solve requires teams to build a functioning robot.
Teams have six weeks to design, create and test the robot before entering competitions where robots battle for points. Each point is acquired by how well a robot solves a problem posed.
The team has attended two national championships since its inception and placed among the top 16 teams worldwide.
Many of the team’s members have gone on to study mechanical and electrical engineering, physics, medicine, computer science and design at colleges throughout the county.
In order to compete and have the tools needed to build a robot, the team needs to raise nearly $8,000 in funding each year.
For $7, you get all-you-can-eat spaghetti and you can bid on items like a snowboarding lesson and lift ticket, and a date night basket.
The auction will be from 6-8 p.m. June 4 in the high school’s commons, 600 Second Ave.
American Association of University Women honors local female students
May 18, 2010
The American Association of University Women, Issaquah Branch, on April 22 honored nine outstanding high school women scholars who excel in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
Issaquah High School
Kathleen Moore — mathematics
Kathleen Moore
Among the seven science and math courses Moore will complete this year are Advanced Placement physics, chemistry, biology and calculus. Moore has also been recognized for excellence in American literature. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club and Robotics Club. Outside of school, Moore has counseled at the Girl Scout day camp for six years and works at the local food bank. After high school, Moore plans to attend a four-year university and work toward a degree in math, science or engineering.
Students solve the world’s problems, one science fair project at a time
March 30, 2010
Maren Larsen, a first-grader, asks Ben Hanson, an Issaquah High School Robotics Team member, questions about this year’s robot at the Sunset Elementary School science fair. — By Chantelle Lusebrink
Electrifying currents, tornados in two-liter bottles and homemade glue — these and other projects dazzled parents and teachers alike as the Sunset Elementary School science fair unleashed itself with the fury of several baking soda volcanoes March 18 and 19.
Get Involved
January 26, 2010
Issaquah High School
Robotics Society
By Alex Tucker
The Issaquah Robotics Society is in full swing as it gears up for its first competition in March in Portland, Ore. The robotics club has an impressive history of victories, and this year will likely be no different, due to the members’ enthusiasm and dedication.
Issaquah Schools Foundation awards more than $64,000
April 28, 2009
Twenty-three teachers have been presented with more than $64,000 in grant money to help fulfill educational goals in classrooms throughout the Issaquah School District.
The teachers applied through the Issaquah Schools Foundation for Kateri Brow Big Idea/Biggest Need Grants or Classroom Enrichment Grants. Read more
