Latest news with #AerialDroneCompetitionNortheastRegionalChampionship
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
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Aerial Drone Competition Northeast Regional Championship begins at Fairmont State University
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — The Aerial Drone Competition Northeast Regional Championship kicked off Thursday at Fairmont State University, bringing teams from several states to the Mountain State to compete. The event is hosted by the West Virginia Robotics Alliance, which is managed by the NASA IV&V Facility Education Resource Center. Program Manager Todd Ensign told 12 News that the education resource center at the NASA facility in Fairmont strives to prepare students for career paths oriented in the areas of STEM. Ensign added that this competition is one of the many ways that the center is able to engage the students and inspire them to consider careers in things like aerospace engineering, computer programming and engineering. According to Ensign, there were 56 teams at the event that represented schools from Vermont down to Kentucky as part of the northeast region. He added that similar events are taking place in different regions all over the United States, but this event is the largest. The middle school championship will take place Thursday through Friday and the high school regional championships will be held on Saturday and Sunday. Upon arrival, teams will be working with another one to participate in a teamwork challenge, where they must fly their drone through arches and hoops and also move wiffle balls down tracks. Morgantown to implement alternative sentencing program for camping ban The students must communicate cooperatively, and they will share whatever scores they receive. After completing this challenge, the students will move on to the skills field, which tasks them with flying their drones one at a time through a course autonomously. The awards are given out based on an interview that each team gives to the judges, as well as the teams' flight books. According to Ensign, these flight books are where the teams track all of their flights from the entire season, including wins and losses, strategies that they have, as well as data that they've collected about their drone. Every fall, around August, a new game challenge is released, which allows the students to begin preparing their drones for the challenges. Ensign told 12 News that this year's theme was called Gravity, focusing on moving, flying, knocking bean bags off of platforms and moving wiffle balls down tracks. However, Ensign stated that his team at the NASA IV&V Facility Education Resource Center has been preparing for this regional championship over the past year. They've worked with both Fairmont State University and NASA to ensure that they have the appropriate resources available, including the Falcon Center as a venue for the various events. 'We are so fortunate to have not only this venue and the cooperation from Fairmont State, but also to have the support of the president and the administration here at Fairmont State [University],' said Ensign. Ensign stated that NASA underrides a lot of costs to help make this program possible. The regional championship also relies heavily on numerous sponsors, with Aurora Flight Sciences being the key sponsor to present this year's event. 'They're right down the road in Bridgeport, they're building the next generation of aircraft,' Ensign said, regarding Aurora Flight Sciences. 'They have a vested interest in seeing kids learn about this field to prepare themselves for you know, work in the area of advanced air mobility.' All of the events that are taking place within the Aerial Drone Competition Northeast Regional Championship are being livestreamed online via Twitch. You can read more about the West Virginia Robotics Alliance and all of the different robotics programs it has available across the state on its website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Disability Action Center breaks ground new Fairmont recreation center
FAIRMONT, (WBOY) — The Disability Action Center (DAC) held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday at the site of the upcoming Wilfong Wellness Center in Fairmont. DAC officials told 12 News that the center will provide a place for people with disabilities and the community at large to recreate and focus on physical fitness. The facility will include a fitness area, a multipurpose space and a gymnasium that will allow for basketball, volleyball, and pickleball. 'We want the center to not only serve our clients with disabilities, but the greater community, knowing that when we bring everyone together with the focus on health and focus on inclusion, that the entire community wins,' Disability Action Center Executive Director Julie Sole said. Aerial Drone Competition Northeast Regional Championship begins at Fairmont State University The DAC raised around $1.7 million over four years to fund this project. Funders included Senator Manchin, Senator Capito, a number of state officials, the Marion County Commission and Kevin and Donna Wilfong, whose family has been heavily involved with the disabled community in the area since 1958. Kevin Wilfong's parents founded the first association in Marion County for people with developmental disabilities after his younger brother passed away from hydrocephalus. Wilfong said his contributions to the wellness center were very meaningful to him and that the facility will be designed to better serve people with disabilities in the area with features such as matts on the walls and wheelchair accessibility. The Disability Action Center said it plans on working to get the Wilfong Wellness Center up and running as soon as possible. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
