WildStang team tries for another title

Engineers are not known for getting emotional. So when asked why he's dedicated years to mentoring the high school robotics team WildStang, Dan Rooney talks about the importance of introducing young people to math, science and engineering.

But the pride in his eye when he mentions youngsters he has known reveals it's really the kids who bring him back.

Rooney, a mechanical engineer for Motorola Solutions in Schaumburg, started working with the FIRST Robotics team when it started in 1992, when his boss encouraged him to participate.

But the youngest of his three children was 3 months old then, so it's understandable that his wife, Sue, ruled every now and then he didn't have time for the team. Since 2007, however, he's been a fixture.

“I like working with kids,” said Rooney, a few nights before the team left for the FIRST Robotics national championship in St. Louis, which wraps up Saturday.

“Teach a kid something, and you see the light bulb go off. Show him and next time he knows how to do it. You get freshmen who can't even look you in the eye and can't talk to you. By the time they are seniors they are very confident.”

WildStang, a Northwest Suburban High School District 214 team based at Rolling Meadows High School, has a proud heritage to uphold. The team won national championships in 2003 and 2009 and the chairman's trophy as best overall team in 2006, not to mention two second places.

Rooney says some WildStang alumni come to cheer at competitions. A few scout other teams, keeping detailed records of their strengths and weaknesses. Then there's the girl everyone told to yell when she needed to communicate during competition. “I am yelling,” she responded, and the adults were so proud she had gotten to the point where she would argue with them.

Another young lady told Rooney that thanks to WildStang she already knew most of what they were teaching in her introductory engineering class in college.

“We give exposure to what engineers do in the real world,” said Rooney.

Maddie Hume, a sophomore at Rolling Meadows High School, insists being on the team of engineering prospects has helped her develop interpersonal skills. She has had to help promote the team in the community, solicit sponsorships and sell raffle tickets.

While there are 68 members of the team with jobs from software to mechanical to electrical and animation, 39 are in St. Louis for the nationals, along with six chaperones and nine mentors.

“We've become an elite team,” said Rooney. “We are always mentioned. That stems from a lot of these guys. They might put in 12 hours on a weekend.”

The robot built for the 2011 competition was still 5 pounds overweight when it was time to ship it after the end of the six weeks teams had to build their competitors.

“Kids were here till 2 a.m. drilling through the metal to get the weight down,” said Rooney.

And of course, that means the mentors put in hours, too. Rooney doesn't keep as strict a count as he used to, but during the six-week construction period he put in 360 hours, then he added 200 after shipping.

Every year FIRST comes up with a new game. This year it's really fun to watch, said Mark Koch, of Rolling Meadows High School, the lead teacher with the program.

The WildStang robot scoots around at top speed picking up inner tubes of various colors and shapes and putting them on overhead pegs. It also carries a tiny robot to a pole that it climbs.

“The robot has two speeds—fast and faster,” said Rooney. “They pick up the tubes on the ground while driving fast.”

And yes a string of multicolored lights offers bling, but the lights can be changed to glow all white, blue or red to help team members communicate commands.

David Greer, a senior at Wheeling High School, operates the robot's arms while Jake Wachlin, who is home schooled in Arlington Heights, drives it.

“It's like a video game, says Greer, who will study electrical engineering at the University of Illinois next year.

Koch is optimistic about the future of WildStang, especially since a District 214 feeder school, Lincoln Middle School in Mount Prospect, is the state champion in its age group.

Mentors like Rooney are important because the students work side by side with professional engineers, said the teacher.

“It's the inspirational part,” he said. “It gets people thinking, ‘This is something I'd like to do for a living.'

“Then the mentors tell them, ‘You need to take more math,' all the things teachers are telling the kids, but when another adult says study, it becomes inspiration. That's the whole aspect of FIRST that's really great.”

And while the adults are confident about the WildStang's chances this year, Rooney will admit, “It takes a little bit of luck.”