The New Cool (book)

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The New Cool: A Visionary Teacher, His FIRST Robotics Team, and the Ultimate Battle of Smarts
The new cool 1ed cover.JPG
Cover of hardcover edition
AuthorNeal Bascomb
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction
Publisher Crown
Publication date
2011
Pages352
ISBN 978-0-307-58889-0
OCLC 641997964

The New Cool: A Visionary Teacher, His FIRST Robotics Team, and the Ultimate Battle of Smarts is a 2011 non-fiction narrative book by American writer Neal Bascomb. It follows four FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams through the course of the 2009 season. Its main subject, however, is Team 1717 and the exploits of its students and its head mentor Amir Abo-Shaeer; the other teams followed were teams 217, 395, and 67, from Sterling Heights, Michigan, New York City, and Milford, Michigan respectively.

Contents

Summary

The book begins with a prologue set at the 2009 FIRST Championship in Atlanta and describes the exciting environment there. It then switches back to the kickoff event in January 2009 and describes Dean Kamen and how he founded FIRST. Afterwards, it details the history of team 1717 and the program that it is a part of, the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy. Then the book describes how the 2009 team winds its way through a 6-week build season, enduring many struggles from mechanical failures to a bout of sickness. A chapter is dedicated to team 217, the Thunderchickens, who attempt to construct a robot with military style precision, and to team 395, 2TrainRobotics, whose students must deal with issues related to being in the poor inner city, as well as to team 67, Heroes of Tomorrow. After the build season, team 1717 competes in two regional competitions, Los Angeles and Sacramento. The team loses in the finals at Los Angeles, and wins in Sacramento after going undefeated. 1717 then competes in the FIRST Championship, where it loses to a heavily favored team, 111 WildStang, in the division finals.

Reviews

Science historian Robert P. Crease wrote in the Wall Street Journal that The New Cool "is effective in capturing the students' loyalty, dedication and ingenuity." Popular book blog Bookin' with Bingo called The New Cool "an important book for everyone but especially those who are interested in our educational goals for today and the future." FIRST has promoted the book at the FRC kickoff and its regional competitions. [1] [2] James Floyd Kelly of Wired stated that "any students or adults considering jumping into FRC for the first time should read this book." [3]

Kate Vander Wiede of the Christian Science Monitor panned the book, stating that "the book fails to resonate" and "doesn't do...justice" to FIRST or Team 1717. [4]

Film adaptation

According to Dean Kamen at the FIRST Championship, a screenplay based on the book is being written. The rights to the book have been optioned to Scott Rudin through the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. [5] The film is being directed by Michael Bacall. [6]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">FIRST Robotics Competition</span>

FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year's game that weigh up to 125 pounds (57 kg). Robots complete tasks such as scoring balls into goals, placing inner tubes onto racks, hanging on bars, and balancing robots on balance beams. The game, along with the required set of tasks, changes annually. While teams are given a kit of standard set of parts during the annual Kickoff, they are also allowed and encouraged to buy or fabricate specialized parts. FIRST Robotics Competition is one of four robotics competition programs organized by FIRST, the other three being FIRST LEGO League Explore, FIRST LEGO League Challenge, and FIRST Tech Challenge.

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Amir Muhsin Abo-Shaeer is an American teacher and mechanical engineer. In 2001, during his first year of teaching, he established the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy (DPEA) on the Dos Pueblos High School campus. In addition to being the Director of the DPEA, he teaches physics, engineering, robotics, machining and manufacturing. His focused outreach efforts have yielded 50% female student enrollment in the DPEA. He also ran FRC Team 1717 as part of the academy program. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010. He is the first high school teacher to win the award, as well as the first FIRST mentor to win the award for work relating to FIRST robotics.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logo Motion</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collegiate Aerial Robotics Demonstration</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rapid React</span> 2022 FIRST Robotics Competition game

Rapid React, stylized as RAPID REACT and officially known as Rapid React presented by The Boeing Company for sponsorship reasons, is the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) game for the 2022 season. The game is themed around transportation as part of the FIRST-wide FIRST Forward theme for 2021-2022.

References

  1. "Celebrity Geeks". Wall Street Journal. 10 March 2011.
  2. "The New Cool". Bookin' with Bingo. 19 March 2011.
  3. "GeekDad Book Review: The New Cool". Wired. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  4. "The New Cool". The Christian Science Monitor. 2 March 2011.
  5. "'THE NEW COOL'". PR Newswire. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
  6. McCarthy, Erin (April 28, 2012). "Director Michael Bacall on FIRST Robotics Movie The New Cool". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved April 30, 2012.