Indiana 21st Century Skills

CARMEN Commercial Real Estate Services & Duke Realty combined forces, donating time and space at Park 100 to IndianaFIRST.  The practice space provided for dozens of FIRST Robotics Competition Teams in Indiana to perfect their design and prepare for the 2012 FRC game, Rebound Rumble, in preparation for last weekends World Competition in St. Louis.

“The practice field was invaluable to our team this year.  It allowed us to work out the bugs of our robot so that we didn't have a single mechanical failure at the Boilermaker Regional,” said Scott Miller, Project Manager, FRC Team 829.  “It also allowed our drivers to have hours of practice driving the robot and it really showed in our performance.  Our team was able to go undefeated in qualification matches and seed first in the tournament. Many thanks from FIRST Team 829.”

FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) challenges teams of young people and their professional mentors to solve a common problem presented in the form of a high-intensity, sport-like game. In just six short weeks, teams of 25-40 students are charged to design (using CAD software), manufacture, and build a human-sized robot capable of competing in the annual game. Teams made up of high school students, teachers, engineers, technologists, and other adult mentors compete with teams from around the world in what is commonly referred to as “The Super Bowl of Smarts”.

Longtime Board member and advocate of TechPoint Foundation for Youth (TPF4Y) programs, Chris Carmen, President of CARMEN Commercial Real Estate Services, worked to secure practice space for TPF4Y’s current philanthropic start-up, IndianaFIRST, who promoted the space to all Indiana FRC teams.

“CARMEN was thrilled that Duke Realty stepped in and generously provided space to these students who represent some of Indiana’s brightest,” said Chris Carmen.  “When you see these kids compete and the real-world learning involved in this program, it’s simply contagious, and we were happy to help secure a space for them to practice and appreciate Duke Realty’s generosity.”

Nine Indiana Teams won the chance to compete at the FIRST Robotics Competition World Championship:

o   Carmel High School, FRC #868-Winner of the Engineering Inspiration Award at Purdue’s Boilermaker Regional.

o   Center Grove High School, FRC #1741-Winner of the Engineering Inspiration Award at Queen City Regional.

o   Huntington County 4-H, FRC #1501-Alliance Winner at the Boilermaker Regional.

o   Perry Meridian High School, FRC #234-Alliance Winner at the Boilermaker Regional.

o   Knightstown HS & New Castle Career Center, FRC #3947-Winner of Rookie All-star Award at the Boilermaker Regional.

o   Kokomo High School, FRC #45 Alliance Winner at the Queen City Regional & Rookie All-star Winner

o   Michigan City & Marguette High School, #3936-Winner of Rookie Allstar Award at the Midwest Regional.

o   West Lafayette Jr/Sr High School, FRC #461, Winner of Chairman’s Award at Washington DC Regional.

Three teams from Stuart, Fla., Mountain Home, Ark., and North Brunswick, N.J. won the final showdown, earning the covetedFIRST Robotics Competition Championship Winning Alliance. Several other U.S. and international FIRST student robotics teams earned honors for design excellence, competitive play, research, business plans, website design, teamwork, and partnerships. (April 28, 2012, www.usfirst.org)

IndianaFIRST's mission is to inspire young people to be leaders in STEM industries by engaging them in exciting mentor-based robotics programs that build hard skills in science, engineering, and technology as well as valuable 21st century skills such as communication and critical-thinking.

TechPoint Foundation for Youth identified IndianaFIRST as one of its “Greenhouse Initiatives” in 2011, and pledged to assist the organization in its aggressive goal to provide access to high school level FRC programs to 50% of Indiana’s student population by 2015. TPF4Y’s support enabled IndianaFIRST to pilot a training and development program for 11 FRC rookie teams in 2011, preparing them for the 2012 competition.

 On Oct. 5, 2011 the TechPoint Foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary and announced a new name, logo and mission to reflect its work and impact on Indiana’s future workforce. 

If you're familiar with the Techpoint Foundation you're probably also aware of Techpoint. As the prominent trade organization that aims to accelerate the technology sector, Techpoint has become a major player in the Indianapolis technology community. Since the Techpoint Foundation shares a name with Techpoint it's logical to think that the two are related. However, Techpoint and the Techpoint Foundation are two completely separate organizations with two very different missions. Hopefully this post can help clear up any misconception.

Here at the Techpoint Foundation we've heard several different interpretations of our relationship with Techpoint from our supporters. Some believe that the Techpoint Foundation is the "philanthropic arm" of Techpoint, or that Techpoint is the parent organization of the Techpoint Foundation. Others believe that we're two different divisions of the same organization. The reality is that the two organizations work together on certain initiatives, but it's two separate organizations with separate fundraising efforts and separate missions.

What is Techpoint?
Techpoint is Indiana's initiative for the technology sector as it promotes entrepreneurship and accelerates growth of technology-based companies. The main focus is to improve the current economy, and to make it advantageous for technology companies to do business in Indiana. Techpoint puts on events like the annual Mira Awards that display the best new Indiana companies each year. Techpoint also is behind the Measured Marketing initiative that is positioning Indianapolis as the top place in the nation for firms that provide technology based maketing tools to other businesses. Techpoint is part of the CICP (Central Indiana Corporate Partnership)

What is the Techpoint Foundation?
While Techpoint is focused on the current economy, Techpoint Foundation is looking to the future to develop Indiana's youth. We're focused on identifying organizations that have the potential to make a big impact on Indiana's youth and then investing money, guidance, and manpower into those organizations to amplify their impact. One way to think of it is that we're a "venture philanthropy" organization. We invest resources in programs that assist Indiana’s underserved youth develop critical 21st Century skills in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. Techpoint Foundation is part of CICF (Central Indiana Community Foundation).

Hopefully that gives you a little better understanding of two outstanding organizations that are working to make Indiana a great place for technology innovation now and for years to come.