Employees Help High School Robotics Teams.
BAE Systems Land & Armaments employees Dennis Jenks and Alvin Cheng have put in hundreds of hours helping local high school students in California build robots for the For Inspiration & Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) robotics competition.
Jenks and Cheng, both mechanical engineers, are mentoring students and helping them develop interest in choosing a career in engineering.
"I have been mentoring FIRST Robotics teams for nine years and see the benefit of the program," said Jenks. "These kids learn valuable life lessons of teamwork, problem solving and working under a tight schedule - things they’ll need when they begin their careers".
Cheng also understands the value of participating in FIRST. As a high school student, Cheng was on a FIRST robotics team. Now, he gives back to the program by helping students on the BAE Systems sponsored teams. In addition to hands-on work with the robots, Cheng also put in countless hours serving on the planning committee of Cal Games, an off-season FIRST event.
