Engineering a
better future
BEST Robotics participant changes
children’s lives, one hand at a time
In Vietnam, there is a group of approximately 30
children who are missing fingers or parts of their
hands or arms, conditions most have endured since
birth. Prosthetic replacements can cost as much
as $100,000. The high cost, coupled with the fact
that children outgrow their prostheses just like they
do clothing, have made them unattainable for this
particular group.
Enter Zach McCleery, a high school junior at St.
Luke’s Episcopal School in Mobile, Alabama, and
longtime participant in the College of Sciences
and Mathematics Office of Outreach BEST
Robotics program. McCleery took inspiration from
his experience in BEST Robotics and executed
an Eagle Scout project where he coordinated
the purchase, production, and construction of
affordable prosthetic hands that could be shipped
overseas to the group of children in Vietnam.
McCleery began participation in BEST Robotics
when he was in sixth grade. “BEST” stands for
“Boosting Engineering Science and Technology,”
and the primary objective of the robotics
program is to: provide students with a real-world
engineering experience that incorporates the
practical application of math and science; prepare
students to be technologically literate and thus
better prepared to enter the workforce; help
students develop leadership, project management,
teamwork and organizational skills; and develop
confidence and competence.
A national robotics program geared toward
middle and high school students, BEST Robotics
culminates in one of four regional championships,
including South’s BEST, which is headquartered
at Auburn University and hosted by the College of
Sciences and Mathematics and the Samuel Ginn
College of Engineering. This year’s championship
featured the top 55 teams from regional hubs in
Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and
Florida.
40
Journey/Spring 2016
McCleery’s robotics team at St. Luke’s is part of
the Jubilee BEST Robotics hub, which consists
of 40 schools from southern Alabama and the
Mississippi Gulf Coast.
During the South’s BEST championship, teams
compete in a series of head-to-head matches on a
playing field where robots score points by picking
up objects, maneuvering around various obstacles,
and placing the objects in specified locations.
“I am an engineer at heart, and I love robotics,” said
McCleery. “I was on our school’s BEST Robotics
claw team for a couple of years, and I have always
enjoyed making things that will grab things.”
The St. Luke’s claw team division is responsible
for designing and building the mechanism on
the robot that will pick up and deliver items on
the competition playing field. For the 2015-16
academic year, McCleery was the St. Luke’s
robotics team chief engineer as well as one of the
robot operators during the competition.
In addition to the robotics competition, teams
compete to receive awards in other categories,
such as engineering design notebook, marketing
presentation, team exhibit, interview, and team
spirit and sportsmanship. Awards are given based
on specific criteria, such as demonstrated teamwork,
a positive attitude and enthusiasm, school and
community involvement, and creativity.
“Robotics has really helped me a lot,” said
McCleery. “I have always liked engineering,
and Legos were a big part of my childhood, but
participating in robotics let me know I could
pursue something like building prosthetic hands
for my Eagle Scout project. BEST has taught me
to work as a team and to listen to others - even the
sixth graders who might just have the best ideas.
BEST helps you to listen and truly think outside
the box. In robotics you have to work as a company.
You have a marketing side, a presentation side, an
engineering side, and you all have to work together.
If you don’t, the whole company can fall apart.”
McCleery applied these lessons to his Eagle
Scout project, which was made possible, in
part, by the Enable Community Foundation.
The foundation works with a network of
worldwide volunteers who ensure that anyone
who is a good candidate and requests one of
their prosthetic hands will receive one.
The hands are created using 3D printing,
which is a process of making three dimensional
solid objects from a digital file. Opelika
resident Melina Brown is director of case
management and quality assurance for Enable
Community Foundation, and she worked with
McCleery on his Eagle Scout project.
“My role with the foundation is to supervise
our matching process and our test hand
process, and various other administrative
duties,” said Brown. “Our matching process
is fairly simple. We ask that our parents who
come to us fill out an intake form that we
have online, and after that they are required to
send us three very specific photos. From those
photos, we are able to gain measurements for
their child using automated measurement
software. We then decide their needs and
we match them with a volunteer from
approximately 7,000 worldwide. The volunteer
then takes over and works one-on-one with
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