SEATTLE, Wash. – Sept. 28, 2017 – City of Everett, Snohomish County and Washington State University have won a 2017 VISION 2040 Award from the Puget Sound Regional Council for WSU Everett. The awards recognize innovative projects and programs that help ensure a sustainable future as the region grows.

“This was a huge undertaking, many years in the making – decades even – that required incredible partnerships to make a reality,” said Josh Brown, Executive Director of PSRC. “The new campus will bring economic opportunities to Everett and provide advantageous degree paths for students seeking area employment in aerospace and tech.”

WSU Everett can accommodate just over 1,000 students a year in its 95,000 square foot building.

The award was presented at the Snohomish County Tomorrow annual meeting on September 27.

VISION 2040 is the region’s growth management, economic, and transportation strategy, designed to meet the needs of the 5 million people expected to be living in the region in 2040. It is an integrated, long-range vision for the future that lays out a strategy for maintaining a healthy region – promoting the well-being of people and communities, economic vitality, and a healthy environment.

PSRC develops policies and coordinates decisions about regional growth, transportation and economic development planning within King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties. The Council is composed of over 80 entities, including all four counties, cities and towns, ports, state and local transportation agencies and tribal governments within the region.

Contact: Michele Leslie, mleslie@psrc.org

August 15, 2017 – Everett, Wash. – WSU Everett students studying STEM fields just received a financial boost from The Boeing Company. At the WSU Everett open house on Aug. 15, Boeing Vice President Bill McSherry announced the establishment of the Ray Stephanson Scholarship for STEM Leadership. A scholarship will be awarded annually to a student in technical field who has demonstrated leadership skills.

“Ray Stephanson has dedicated his career to improving the lives of people in his city and state, and demonstrated an unwavering commitment to building the higher education capacity in Snohomish County,” said Kevin McAllister, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Boeing and our tens of thousands of employees in the state – thousands of whom are WSU graduates – are pleased to be able to create a lasting scholarship in his name that will help prepare local students for exciting STEM careers.”

Stephanson has served as mayor of the City of Everett since 2003. During his time in office, he was a vocal supporter of Boeing and a champion of strengthening and diversifying the economy of the city and region. Stephanson was also a tireless advocate for the community’s efforts to bring a four-year research institution to Everett. He and the late WSU President Elson S. Floyd were the driving forces behind the establishment of WSU Everett.

“Ray Stephanson’s leadership for the last four decades in Everett, on the Everett City Council, as president of Puget Sound Regional Council and as mayor, has resulted in unprecedented success for citizens and industry in this region,” said WSU Everett Chancellor Paul Pitre. “The scholarships that stem from this endowment will help students, families and industry.”

Boeing has supported WSU Everett students in several ways. A $250,000 gift from Boeing means WSU Everett’s new campus will be equipped with state-of-the art technology. In recognition of the generous gift and Boeing’s long-standing support for the university, WSU President Kirk Schulz designated an engineering lab on the first floor of the new 95,000-square-foot building in Everett as the Boeing Innovation Studio.

Each year, several teams of four WSU Everett students (one communication, one hospitality business management and two engineering) are selected as Boeing Scholars. These students participate in a multidisciplinary design course in which they address a Boeing-sponsored project with engineering and business components. At the end of the year the project concludes in a formal presentation to a team of Boeing mentors. Those mentors volunteer their time and expertise to help guide the teams through the real-world issues they would face on their product.

By Katherine Long, The Seattle Times

She was a self-described aviation buff who earned her private pilot’s license after high school, but when she got up in the air, Jennifer Johnson decided that piloting a plane was kind of boring.

What she really liked was the stuff under the hood — the complex systems that make up a commercial airplane. But Johnson, who by her late 20s was married and living in Marysville with a toddler, couldn’t pick up and move somewhere to earn the engineering degree she’d need to do that kind of work.

Then in 2014, an opportunity opened up close to home. Washington State University began offering engineering degrees in Everett, using space on the Everett Community College campus. Johnson brushed up on her math and science skills, then enrolled.

She’s now a mechanical engineer for Aviation Technical Services in Everett — a dream job that allows her to do engineering work on airplane systems, including repairs and modifications.

This month, WSU Everett will cut the ribbon on a $64 million building that can accommodate many more students like Johnson who can’t move to the college’s main campus in Pullman but want to earn an engineering degree and some of the other degrees WSU also offers.

For many Everett politicians, the building is the culmination of 23 years of work to establish a four-year university in Snohomish County.

Pat McClain, a former governmental-affairs director for the city of Everett, says he was moved to tears when he and his wife attended the first graduation ceremony for students of WSU Everett a few years ago.

“You listened to the stories of young people and what it took to get their degree — and it wasn’t that long ago they couldn’t get that degree in Snohomish County,” he said.

McClain, who now serves on the WSU Everett Advisory Council, calls the opening of the new building “the biggest thing Everett has ever done in terms of its future.”

The 95,000-square-foot glass-and-brick building, across the street from Everett Community College, is one of the tallest, and newest, buildings north of downtown.

Much of the building is designed for students studying the three engineering degrees WSU offers in Everett: mechanical, electrical and software. It’s filled with state-of-the-art equipment to help them do their work, including 3-D printers and high-end computers for software engineering. Flat-screen TVs for videoconferencing are everywhere, allowing professors in Pullman to teach classes in Everett.

“We had some lab space and equipment” when the program shared space at Everett Community College, said WSU Everett Chancellor Paul Pitre. “But it’s nothing close to what we have now.”

Convenience for students

Everett politicians had lobbied for years for the University of Washington to open a branch campus in their city. When that idea fell by the wayside, they shifted their attention to WSU.

In 2011, then-Gov. Chris Gregoire signed legislation giving WSU management and leadership, starting in 2014, over a building on the Everett Community College campus where a consortium of eight four-year colleges offered classes.

In 2012, WSU began offering engineering degrees in Everett. In 2013, the university’s governing board approved a $10 million expenditure to begin design of the new building. And in 2015, it got money from the state Legislature to construct the building.

About 200 students have enrolled in WSU’s Everett offerings this fall, and the building has enough space to take 600 more.

With a solar array on the roof and a 19,000-gallon underground cistern that collects rainwater, the building will use half the energy a building of that size would normally use, and its toilets will flush with water from the sky.

Along with Johnson, the Marysville mom who went back to college, WSU Everett is set up to help students like Amy Felt, a 2009 graduate of Mount Vernon High School.

Felt earned her associate degree at Skagit Valley and Everett community colleges, then earned her mechanical-engineering degree at WSU Everett in August 2016. Moving away from home to get a degree wasn’t an option for her, either.

Today, she too is in a dream job — as a fluid systems test engineer at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Pitre, the chancellor, said about 96 percent of WSU Everett’s students are from Washington state. And they’re older than the average college student — about 26.

“The common denominator is that for some reason, they need to be closer to home, work opportunities, and family,” Pitre said. “And in a lot of cases, they can’t afford the cost of a traditional college campus. Here, they could live with their families, cut down on the costs.”

In addition to engineering, the Everett campus also offers a hospitality and business management degree, and will be starting an organic agriculture degree this fall.

Earlier this month, McClain — the Everett city official, took out an ad in The (Everett) Herald commemorating the new building.

It featured a photo of his granddaughter, who is 3, and the words: “Thank you from the class of 2036.”

 

EVERETT, Wash. – May 13, 2017 – Today Washington State University Everett held the second commencement ceremony for students at the newest WSU campus. Chancellor Paul Pitre conferred degrees on 70 students in engineering, communications and business.

Students received their degrees in front of family, friends and WSU faculty and staff in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center at Xfinity Arena. Graduates were recognized for their academic achievement as well as personal achievements. These included military service, raising children or holding employment while earning their degrees.

“There are students here who drove miles or took ferries, all to be able to better themselves. Here in Everett – the little campus that could, and did. Full of students that could, and then did,” said Hannah Lu Marie, president of the student government and a first-generation college student. “As students at this specific campus, we had – and continue to have – the unique opportunity to better ourselves regardless of whatever situation landed us here in the first place.”

A committee of faculty, staff and students selected Michael Austin, who earned his degree in electrical engineering, as the student speaker.

“I am giving this speech, because I wanted to present myself as an example of hope. The hope that has drawn many of my WSU Everett friends to pursue degrees later in life than a traditional student. The hope that has driven WSU Everett veterans to try to further their lives with new career paths,” Austin said. “I have to thank all WSU Everett staff and faculty for making this school an environment where students don’t feel like a statistic. Be sure to retain this attribute as you grow into the future, because WSU Everett right now is a place of hope.”

Austin concluded, “I hope you all continue to redefine your success, by growing and adapting with new conflicts and moments of peace. For those of you who find yourself hopeless as we go forward, summon any bit of hope you can. Fight on to be the most triumphant you.”

Three students were selected to carry gonfalons, which are tall banners that represent each of the colleges at WSU Everett, based on their academic excellence. Those students included:

• Chelsea Long, business
• Rebecca Boehm, communications
• Grant Anderson, engineering

After students received their degrees, the presidents of the Snohomish County and Skagit Valley chapters of the WSU Alumni Association and special guest Butch T. Cougar led students and their families in a loud rendition of the WSU Fight Song, punctuated by crimson and gray streamer cannons.

View more photos on Facebook at this link.

Contact: Randy Bolerjack

EVERETT, Wash. – May 8, 2017 – After a nationwide search, the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine has hired three new associate deans to administer medical educational programs at WSU’s clinical campuses. At WSU’s campus in Everett, Dr. Larry Schecter will serve as Associate Dean of Clinical Campus for the college of medicine.

“Dr. Schecter has had a successful career as a physician and has demonstrated an incredible breadth of medical leadership experience,” said WSU North Puget Sound at Everett Chancellor Paul Pitre. “His local ties with the medical community, passion for educating future physicians and ability to connect with and coach medical students make him an ideal fit to establish and grow medical education on our campus in Everett.”

Schecter practiced General Surgery in Santa Monica, Calif. for 30 years. During that time, he took on multiple leadership positions including Chairman of Surgery at both St. John’s Hospital and Santa Monica Hospital. Although he was a widely recognized and respected surgeon, his love of teaching and his leadership skills led him toward larger administrative responsibilities culminating in an appointment as Chief Medical Officer of Santa Monica/UCLA Medical Center and Associate Professor of Surgery at the UCLA School of Medicine.

With the completion of his long and successful career as surgeon, administrator and leader in the medical community, Schecter and his family moved to the Northwest in 2003 when he became Chief Medical Officer of Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Wash. In Everett, he created a highly successful Physician Leadership Development program that was later incorporated throughout the greater Providence Health and Services System. He was the architect and leader in the development of a unique and innovative re-structuring of the medical staff at Providence Everett. He then became Chief Medical Officer of the Western Washington Region of Providence.

Schecter has received numerous teaching awards and his experience teaching has proven to be the perfect foundation for his most recent career transition to professional coach. The combination of teacher, mentor, innovator and humanist made Larry’s transition into coaching and consulting a natural evolution.

Dr. Kevin Murray, Dr. Farion Williams and Dr. Dawn DeWitt will serve in the same role on the Vancouver, Tri-Cities and Spokane campuses, respectively.

Schecter, who lives in Redmond, will start work on May 8. He will maintain an office in WSU’s new building at 915 N. Broadway, which will open this fall.

 

About the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine

The Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine was created to address physician shortages in communities across the state. It attracts talented students from rural and underserved communities. These students train within their communities, increasing the likelihood that they will remain there to practice medicine.

The charter class of the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine will include 60 students. In the first two years of medical, students will study foundational science for medicine, integrated with the fundaments of clinical practice. This training will be based at WSU’s health sciences campus is Spokane, but will also include six weeks of training and community engagement at the regional campuses. During years three and four, the focus on medical education shifts heavily to the clinical curriculum. Students will move onto hospital wards and into clinics to function as junior members of the medical team. Closely supervised by practicing physicians or residents, students will diagnose and treat patients. They will put into practice the basic science knowledge and clinical skills learned during the first two years.

Learn more at medicine.wsu.edu.

EVERETT, Wash. – WSU North Puget Sound at Everett announced an August 15 ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house for the campus’s new building at 915 N. Broadway in Everett.

“This is a landmark occasion for our entire region. Washington State University is thrilled to be opening the doors of our new, state-of-the-art building to the public on August 15,” Paul Pitre, chancellor of WSU’s newest campus, said. “This building represents decades of work by this community to create local access to four-year degree programs. WSU is incredibly proud to be an important part of that and to continue our growth into the future.”

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at 3:30 p.m. and will include WSU president Kirk Schulz, Pitre, city of Everett mayor Ray Stephanson and Everett Community College president David Beyer.

“The programs offered in this building will help address some of our region’s most pressing economic challenges,” Stephanson said. “We are competitors in the worldwide marketplace and our businesses need a talented, well-trained workforce in order to thrive and expand. This is where that workforce will come from.”

The open house will include opportunities for tours and photos, chances to learn about the nearly 30 programs offered in the new building from WSU and the Everett University Center partners, information from the construction team, and more. Each WSU North Puget Sound at Everett and Everett University Center program/partner will be assigned a space to engage with community members, who will be guided by an event passport. Those interested can learn more on the Facebook event page.

The building’s name is WSU North Puget Sound at Everett. The four-story, 95,000 square foot building includes engineering, power and computer laboratories, active learning and general classrooms, a tiered-lecture hall, a math and writing tutoring center, an enrollment services center, a café operated by Bargreen Coffee, administrative and faculty offices, and various rooms for students to study and work collaboratively. On the first floor, the Boeing Innovation Studio includes state-of-the-art machining equipment for students. Last year, WSU built a new parking lot with 219 spaces immediately north of the building to offset the peak parking impact of Everett University Center students, faculty and staff.

WSU fall semester classes will begin the following Monday, August 21. Everett University Center partner programs, which use a quarter system, will begin on various dates in the month of September.

In the fall of 2016, WSU had enrolled nearly 200 students and Everett University Center had more than 500 students. The new building has capacity for 1,000-1,100 students. Though the building is just opening, about 160 students have already graduated from WSU programs in Everett.

# # #

 

About WSU North Puget Sound at Everett

WSU North Puget Sound at Everett is student- and community-centered, bringing industry-aligned undergraduate programs to the North Puget Sound region to prepare students to compete globally in the local economy. WSU’s newest campus currently offers six high-demand bachelor’s degrees: mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software engineering, data analytics, hospitality business management and strategic communication.

Students fulfill their general education requirements by taking their first two years of courses at any community college (or other university), and then finish their degrees be enrolling at WSU in Everett for their junior and senior years. Students save money by taking their first two years at any community college and by staying close to home. The model and location provide place-bound students who have started families or careers greater access to a four-year degree.

WSU North Puget Sound at Everett, by the numbers.

 

About Everett University Center

The Everett University Center is a product of 1997 state legislation that formed the North Snohomish-Island-Skagit (NSIS) Consortium of higher education institutions to create a flexible and innovative means for expanding higher education opportunities for residents of the three counties.

The NSIS Consortium was committed to providing opportunities for place-bound residents whose work and family commitments precluded travel to a distant university. Instruction is delivered in various formats including web-based distance education, two-way interactive video, technology supported classrooms and combinations of these. Washington State University took over the role of manager of Everett University Center on July 1, 2014.

Contact: Randy Bolerjack

EVERETT, Wash. – May 3, 2017 – Crystal Donner, President and CEO of Everett-based civil engineering firm Perteet, Inc. and Washington State University graduate, will describe her career and life experiences as commencement speaker for WSU North Puget Sound at Everett’s spring 2017 graduates. Donner will speak in front of graduates, family and friends in the Ed Hansen Conference Center at Xfinity Arena. The ceremony begins at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 13.

“Crystal Donner is a perfect exemplar of a WSU graduate who has found professional success as an engineer and has made giving back to the community a priority,” says Chancellor Paul Pitre. “Her career and community impact have been an inspiration to our engineering students. It’s an honor to have her with us to inspire the next generation of engineers and professionals from WSU North Puget Sound at Everett.”

Donner has previously spoken to groups of WSU North Puget Sound at Everett and Everett Community College students at events hosted by the Society of Women Engineers at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett, a student-run organization. She serves the community as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Economic Alliance Snohomish County and as a member of the WSU North Puget Sound at Everett Advisory Council. She received her undergraduate degree in civil engineering from WSU in 1990 and is a licensed, professional civil engineer with more than 26 years of experience.

Pitre will preside over the ceremony. Hannah Lu Marie, president of the student body, and Michael Austin, a committee-selected student speaker, will also deliver short speeches.

Students eligible to walk at commencement include spring 2017, summer 2017 and fall 2017 graduates. A total of 70 students are eligible in four programs, including: 28 mechanical engineering; 19 integrated strategic communication; 15 electrical engineering; and eight hospitality business management.

For more information about WSU North Puget Sound at Everett’s 2017 Commencement ceremony, visit everett.wsu.edu/commencement.

Contact: randy.bolerjack@wsu.edu

EVERETT, Wash. – Washington State University President Kirk Schulz will serve as a panelist at a symposium on Tuesday, May 2, that will examine the importance of public research universities in creating an educated citizenry and a robust national research enterprise.

The symposium will take place from 3-5 p.m. at the University of Washington Student Union Building 160 (Lyceum) in Seattle. A reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. will follow.

 

Abraham Lincoln’s vision

The symposium is part of The Lincoln Project, a national initiative of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) named for President Abraham Lincoln, who in 1862 signed into law the Morrill Act, which created the nation’s modern system of land-grant universities.

“Recommitting to Lincoln’s Vision: An Educational Compact for the 21st Century,” is one in a series of similar forums held across the country by the AAAS. During the past three years, The Lincoln Project has studied the challenges facing public research universities, particularly focused on current and changing financial models and how that has affected the ability of public universities to meet their educational, research and public service mission.

 

Critical investment

“The national investment in public higher education played an instrumental role in our country’s competiveness in the 20^th century, and that investment is more critical as the 21^st century evolves,” Schulz said. “Higher education is essential to preparing the next generation for careers of the future — we believe government must continue to share in this investment so that access to higher education, regardless of family income, is assured.”

Daniel Greenstein, director of Education, Postsecondary Success in the United States Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will deliver keynote remarks. University of California, Berkeley Chancellor Emeritus Bob Birgeneau, who co-chaired The Lincoln Project, will discuss the project and its recommendations. Greenstein and Schulz will join University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce and former Washington Governor Christine Gregoire for a panel discussion.

Margaret O’Mara, UW associate professor of history, will moderate the discussion.

 

Three strategies to ensure research

The Lincoln Project recommends three strategies to ensure the wellbeing of public research institutions and the communities they serve:

• Address current financial challenges through renewed state support and new cost efficiencies and additional revenue streams at public research universities
• Create public-private partnerships to sustain and strengthen research and education for the future
• Improve student access and performance by simplifying financial aid, tracking student performance and improving transfer pathways

The Lincoln Project published a series of five publications that present key facts about public research universities; examine the challenges facing higher education funding at the state level; discuss current and changing financial models of public research universities; and consider the myriad impacts of the research conducted at these institutions. In its final report, the Lincoln Project offered substantive recommendations for sustaining these institutions and advancing their growth for the benefits of the states they serve and the nation as a whole.

 

WSU contributions

Some of WSU’s recent contributions in the Everett area include:

• An innovative, affordable path to a four-year degree

The university’s newest campus in Everett brings WSU’s world-class academics to North Puget Sound for place-bound students. WSU currently offers six in-demand bachelor’s degrees in Everett. Students save money fulfilling general education requirements by taking their first two years of courses at any community college, and then finishing their degree by enrolling at WSU in Everett for their junior and senior years.

• Expansion of health care statewide

The new Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, created in 2015, will expand health care in underserved areas of the state and give more Washingtonians a chance to earn a medical degree in state. The college’s innovative community-based model of medical education will rely on partnerships with existing clinic and hospitals to provide clinical education, including Providence Regional Medical Center, The Everett Clinic and Sea Mar Community Health. The inaugural class of 60 medical students enrolls in August.

• Aligning programs with regional and state need

WSU North Puget Sound at Everett brings industry-aligned undergraduate programs to the North Puget Sound region to prepare students to compete globally in the local economy. The campus offers programs focused on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and the industrial, commercial and professional services needed in the region.

• Experiential learning and industry partnerships

WSU North Puget Sound at Everett students take full advantage of their proximity to employers in aerospace and advanced manufacturing. Through programs like Boeing Scholars, they gain hands-on experience with industry mentors. Student-led organizations like the Society of Women Engineers and WSU Everett Engineering Club give those same students opportunities for experiential learning in competitions like the international University Rover Challenge or at industry conferences.

• Rebuilding rural communities

America’s Best Communities was a three-year, $10 million competition that aimed to increase economic development in small communities. The Metropolitan Center for Applied Research and Extension at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett provided leadership for the City of Arlington and the Town of Darrington as they progressed through the competition. Working in partnership with the two municipalities, Economic Alliance Snohomish County and numerous local partners, the Metro Center steadily guided the communities in their quest for sustainable economic prosperity.

EVERETT, Wash. – April 26, 2017 – Ol’ Crimson has a new home, flying 30 feet up at Grand Avenue Park in Everett, Wash. On April 25, Washington State University President Kirk Schulz hoisted the flag in a ceremony hosted by Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson.

“The vision for higher education was really to give our kids and grandkids a chance at wonderful, family-wage jobs that are in this community,” Stephanson said. “That’s what education does.”

Everett Community College President David Beyer also raised the college’s flag in the same ceremony that recognized the important partnership between the city of Everett, the college and WSU in bringing higher education access to the North Puget Sound community.

These flags will be a permanent fixture of the park located near the Henry M. Jackson bust and across the street from the historic Jackson house.

You can watch a highlight video hosted on Facebook below:

Washington State University’s globally recognized Mars Rover Team has earned a spot in the 2017 University Rover Challenge. This is the second year the team from WSU’s Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture at the campus in Everett has entered the competition, which had entries from 82 teams in 13 countries this year. Last year WSU Everett’s team earned second place and was the top-placing American team.

A project of The Mars Society, the University Rover Challenge is considered the world’s premier robotics competition for college students. Held in the southern Utah desert for the past 10 years, the competition challenges students to design and build the next generation of Mars rovers that are one-day expected to work alongside human explorers on the surface of the Red Planet.

“I am so excited! It is an incredible feeling to earn a spot in the competition two years in a row, especially with the field this year being so big,” said Mitch Elder, a senior mechanical engineering student and president of the WSU Everett Engineering Club.

“The experiential learning is just incredible for the students,” WSU Everett Chancellor Paul Pitre said. The challenge provides students with hands-on engineering experience while they learn to collaborate and lead teams on a large-scale project from concept to competition.”

“Hopefully we can go to Utah and bring home the big W,” Elder said.

The team will largely utilize the same rover they constructed for the competition last year, calling it simply Rover 2.1. However, they will face new challenges, which means making major upgrades.

 

A multidisciplinary approach to new challenges

“The greatest challenge this year is that the rover has to be autonomous in the terrain-traversal task, which means the rover has to drive itself,” Elder said. “We have a great team working on that, including electrical engineering students. Our team lead, Mark Walsh, is writing the code and leading the rewiring process. Then he is going to work on the automation. We have most of the hardware, so now it’s about getting everything coded.”

Walsh’s 12 years of service in the U.S. Air Force gives him a great background for projects like this competition. “This is the ARDU pilot. It allows you to use GPS and grid coordination to set waypoints and drive to waypoints automatically without any user interface. It will do all the remote driving,” Walsh said while pointing out new pieces of equipment that will be part of Rover 2.1. “Once I start putting wires into this thing it’ll look pretty ugly, but it acts like a nervous system for the rover.”

Last year teams were able to pilot rovers remotely though the terrain-traversal task. “The automatic driving is completely new to the competition. Last year I think our rover shook the world,” Walsh said. “They didn’t think the tasks could be accomplished with the level of simplicity we used, and there’s beauty in simplicity. This year our rover is going to have a lot more brain power.”

Brainpower is not the only upgrade for Rover 2.1.

“We’re also adding a new claw that we designed and built from scratch. Everything that we field this year is purpose-built, so we have a claw built for the astronaut-assistance task, which includes picking up tools with handles. This claw will act more like a human hand in a way,” Elder said. “We’ll retain last year’s claw for doing the precise movements in the equipment-servicing task, like turning valves and flipping switches, because it was very well suited to those tasks.”

 

Competition experience

This year the team goes to the Mars Desert Research Station with actual competition experience.

“Having been there last year is a game changer,” Elder said. “Everything we thought we could expect was in writing. We had a little online video and the written rules, and that was all we knew. When we got there, we realized we had misinterpreted rules and had to make last minute changes, which led to working into the early morning each day. That made it difficult.”

“We gained valuable experience from last year,” said Dr. Xiaopeng Bi, the faculty adviser for the WSU Everett Engineering Club. “The previous success set a high bar going into this year. Although motivating for the team, this also makes it much easier to get frustrated along the way, since everyone is likely expecting great success once again. I hope the students enjoy the flavor of innovation facing new challenges.”

Elder welcomed fellow students to join the team and be part of the experience. “If you’re in any way excited about what we’re doing and you’ve been on the fence about getting involved, get off the fence, get involved,” Elder said. “It’s such a fun experience to be a part of and it looks great on your resume. There’s plenty to do and we need people to do it!”

 

Industry support

In order to participate, the engineering club has relied on industry donations of materials and money.

“I love our sponsors – I can’t thank them enough. Blue Origin made a financial donation that helped us get going when we had critical early purchases. Electroimpact was huge for us last year with a financial contribution. We wouldn’t have been able to travel to Utah without them.” Other material donors include Metal Supermarkets, Boeing, Pacific Power Batteries and Janicki Industries.

“Our biggest thanks go to Everett Community College and their AMTEC facility,” Elder said. AMTEC has provided a space for the students to work and Elder was hired as a volunteer employee, which provides him with access to machining equipment and the ability to supervise students.

Follow this link to contribute to the WSU Everett Engineering Club through the WSU Foundation that will help the team get to Hanksville for the competition.