ISU partners with AMIS, school district to support engineering education

AMI Semiconductor presented the School District No. 25 HaYWiRe robotics team with a $5,000 check this fall, as part of the growing partnership between Idaho State University, School District No. 25 and local industry to support engineering education.

The HaYWiRe robotics team is one of eight Idaho teams that competed in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) regional robotics competition last winter in Portland, Ore.  These teams have six weeks to design and build a robot that can compete in a basketball like game involving teams of three robots. The competition is challenging to even the experienced engineers from ISU, AMIS, Simplot and INL who mentor these southeast Idaho teams.

ISU has been funding two to three teams annually since 2004 with funding from a $1.8 million National Science Foundation grant managed by Dr. Rosemary Smith. This grant, the GK12 grant, partners ISU graduate and advanced undergraduate students in science and engineering with one to two K-12 teachers for the academic year. The ISU students serve as ‘Scientists in Residence’ with the teachers’ classes. Federal tax dollars support this effort to improve science and engineering instruction in local schools, from Pocatello to Marsh Valley, and from Shelley and Idaho Falls.

The $5,000 check from AMIS to School District No. 25 illustrates the sustainability of a growing partnership between ISU, local industry and local schools, said Hanna Sanger, ISU GK12 coordinator.