Sean Lidy points to his name on the wall where the GEARS Youth Robotics Center celebrates where its students have gone since their days at the technology-focused community center.
He’s the only one listed so far for the Rochester Institute of Technology on a list that also includes alumni who have gone on to study at 14 universities, including Purdue University, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Michigan Technological University and Indiana University.
The program started 10 years ago in Granger but recently moved to a new location in Osceola where an open house takes place July 13 and 14.
“We’ve been renovating it to make it just a wonderful place for students to grow, and we intend to be here for a long time,” GEARS Director Scott Chase said.
Chase learned about an international organization called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) 15 years ago, when his son started to become interested in robotics. He said the program teaches students soft skills and how to be a team player. The FIRST organization gives recognized teams access to fundraising opportunities because programs like GEARS do not receive government funding.
Like the FIRST organization, GEARS is an acronym named after the program’s original location in Granger.
“It’s for the Granger Exploration in Robotics Studios,” Chase said. “And the idea was we wanted to create a community center that would encourage students to grow.”
Currently, Chase’s son, Nick Chase, an alumnus of the GEARS program, has worked at John Deere for three years after receiving his degree in mechanical engineering from Trine University.
FIRST governs the youth robotics programs offered by GEARS, which hosts teams competing in the FIRST programs. The FIRST program has three different programs: First Lego League, First Tech Challenge and First Robotics Competition.
Legos: the building blocks of robotics
In the program for students in fourth through eighth grades, the GEARS programs aims to draw students in with something they are familiar with: Legos. A lot of kids come into GEARS with a passion for Legos, and the program utilizes the passion in a different manner.
Advocacy
The Tribune previously reported on GEARS advocating in the Indiana Statehouse for robotics funding.
Passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb on May 4, 2023, Indiana Bill HB 1382, which the GEARS-based team FireWires helped to write with State Rep. Chuck Goodrich (IN-29), the president of Gaylor Electric Inc., awards grants to eligible teams.
The bill provided $4 million dollars in funding to robotics teams throughout Indiana. Although GEARS advocated for this bill, it initially wasn’t eligible for the grant money because the bill originally applied only to public, charter and state-accredited nonpublic schools.
That changed July 1, when this year’s HB 1233 took effect.
The bill, which amends the previous year’s HB 1382, changed the definition of “eligible school” to include a nonpublic school accredited by a national or regional accreditation agency that is recognized by the state board and “eligible team” to include a community-based robotics competition team. That includes FireWires and the other teams based at GEARS.
Chase said there are many areas of Indiana where robotics doesn’t have funding and there are several aspects that the bill helps to fund. At GEARS, all of the coaches are volunteers who all work full-time jobs.
“It was pushed to help the students get the Lego product that they need, because that’s kind of expensive; the registration fees, which could be $350; and then even some money available to stipend teachers, so that the teachers who are gifting their time have an opportunity for a little compensation as well,” he said.
Community and self-confidence
The practices for the program start at 6 p.m., which can be a challenge for younger participants. The program turns to the community for support and charges students in the program.
Although it may be a little different than a team that meets after school, Lucy Noie told The Tribune that she loves the GEARS community.
“What kept me coming back is the sense of GEARS community because GEARS has multiple teams here,” Lucy said.
She attends Penn High School but has been involved with GEARS for nine years. With the program consisting of 120 students, Lucy, whose father, Tom Noie, is a sports columnist with The Tribune, enjoys how she knows everyone within the community.
Lucy’s team, FireWires, competed in April of this year at the FIRST World Championship in Houston, Texas. There are 72 teams in Indiana and only two compete in the world competition each year. The FireWire’s won 2nd place in the Inspire Award Edison Division and were Division Finalists.
Having multiple teams also helps in competitions, especially when considering the experience level of other teams and how that influences the programming, she said. GEARS having multiple teams helps her know how other teams might program and how to prevent the robots from running into each other.
“You kind of get to bounce (ideas) off each other, and it’s just quite a nice environment,” Lucy said. “It builds the GEARS family.”
Although the GEARS community is tight-knit, Sean Lidy’s father, Steve, said that when he first became involved in youth robotics, he didn’t realize how enormous the community is.
“From the outside looking in, you don’t know the first thing about youth robotics,” Steve Lidy said. “Once you’re involved in it, it’s this enormous community of people (with) around 30,000 teams worldwide.”
Jeff Reynolds drives his granddaughters Peyton and Colbie Gustafson around 40 minutes from Walkerton to Osceola to GEARS because of how much he believes in the program.
Peyton has been with the GEARS program for six years. Reynolds said before Peyton joined GEARS in the fourth grade, she was a very shy girl, but now, anytime she hears a question about robotics, she jumps right in.
“What it’s done for her confidence and her ability to talk to people is remarkable,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds echoed Chase’s sentiment about the problem-solving abilities participating in the program gives students. Although Peyton plans to attend medical school, Reynolds still thinks the skills she’s learned in robotics will benefit her.
“I think that’s what’s she’s benefitted the most from, is just learning leadership skills and communication skills,” Reynolds said.
A GEARS alumnus
Sean Lidy became interested in robotics when he was in fifth grade, but Queen of Peace, his school, didn’t offer robotics. His father, Steve Lidy, became a coach and would eventually meet Chase, the “brainchild” behind GEARS.
Sean said he still uses what he learned in the program in projects he works on now as a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he studies software engineering.
Sean plans to continue his involvement with GEARS as a mentor because of how the program impacted his life. He joined the program when he was in fourth grade and has been at GEARS for 10 years now.
“Being able to talk with someone that is older than them or is from a completely different background is really fulfilling to see,” he said.” Because I can recognize in myself that I went from like that kind of scared, shy kid in fifth grade to a point now where I am looking to talk to other people looking to see how I can build my skill set.”
‘Gracious professionalism’
Reynolds said Steve Lidy guides his students and helps them as coach, but he doesn’t do the work for his students, because he wants them to figure things out for themselves.
“It’s an educational opportunity,” Steve Lidy said. “Learning how to learn, teaching how to learn, how to think for themselves and come up with their own ideas.”
Robotics also teaches the students a “gracious professionalism” that will take them beyond their high school and college years, according to Steve. The gracious professionalism, he said, is the core value of treating everyone with kindness and respect.
Sean said when he was in GEARS, they would often help other teams with programming.
“It’s wanting everyone to have the best chance possible,” Sean Lidy said. “And part of doing that is understanding that you might help — you might end up helping the team that you lose to, and that’s completely fine.”
The Full Article is available at: https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/news/local/2024/07/10/gears-robotics-facility-opens-new-headquarters-in-st-joseph-county/74279643007/
