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06.11

The New Cool by Neal Bascomb

By Nita Patel

In his new book, The New Cool, Neal Bascomb provides an inspiring account of Dos Pueblos High School’s FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics team and their quest to win the 2009 FIRST competition. Through simple dialogue and personal details of the student’s lives, Bascomb draws the reader into the story and immediately connects us with the story’s cast. As stated on the dust-jacket, “Bascomb manages to make even those who know little about — or are vaguely suspicious of — technology care passionately about a team of kids questing after a different kind of glory.”

For those who care about technology, the level of technical detail is not deep but enough to raise your interest and to make you think. However, ultimately, the book is not about the technology or design of the robots, the book is about the passion of competition, the pride taken in a job well done and the excitement of engineering. The New Cool allows its readers to experience, through the shared stories of Dob Pueblos High students, the true engineering process.

Living in Bedford, N.H., right around the corner from the Segway plant and a few miles away from DEKA and FIRST headquarters, I was already familiar with both Dean Kaman and FIRST robotics. However, for those who are not, the book is a fantastic introduction to Kaman’s mission and the challenging robotics program known as FIRST. Don’t worry — The New Cool is not a sales pitch for FIRST. The tale simply engages you and provides a glimpse into the structure of the program as it progresses.

The book follows Dos Pueblos’ six-week journey from competition kickoff to robot delivery to final competition. The first-hand account of the build process, the shared focus of the team and the life stories outside of the robotics room makes for an interesting, dramatic story. We come to know and root for teacher Amir Abo-Shaeer, mentor Stan and students Chase, Angie, Turk, Gabe and others.

The 2009 competition, named Lunacy, featured a unique challenge in that the floor was made of regolith, material imitating the surface of the moon. Not only did the robot have to capture moon rocks and super cells and shoot them into opposing trailers, which were tracked with a camera system on top of the robot, but the robot also had to maneuver on this special material.

I felt the book really captured and provided a sense of appreciation for the excitement of engineering, with its many ups and downs. Bascomb steps you through the multiple phases of any design project: requirements definition, trade-space analysis, architectural definition, experimentation on riskier items, prototype builds, integration, debug and final delivery.

Having been a volunteer mentor for the 2009 Insight Technology sponsored Bedford High School team in Bedford, I particularly enjoyed reading this book since I could immediately relate to the challenges and compare and contrast their choices with those of my own team. I remember our team working hard to figure out how they were going to deal with the special flooring. I was not too involved, except to marvel along with other students, as the mechanical engineers built an excellent drive mechanism. I worked with the software and electronics group. We faced challenges similar to those experienced by Gabe, although, I must say that we did not tackle them with the same level of determination and grit as Gabe.

I recommend Bascomb’s The New Cool to all those wishing to encourage others to entire the exciting and rewarding field of engineering. For those just looking for an inspiring and uplifting story, the book will do wonderfully.

Nita Patel, IEEE-USA VP of Communications and Public Awareness, is a systems/software engineering manager at L-3 Warrior Systems, Insight. She is an active volunteer with IEEE, Toastmasters International and the USCF. Her latest eBook, Technical Presentations Book 4: Supplements— Effective Visual Aids, is available online at http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks/. Contact Nita at nita.patel@ieee.org.

Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.