Mike Molloy, Raytheon engineer and a Burrillville resident, points to an area on The Renegades team robot that needs to be adjusted as John Letendre, Raytheon executive, looks on. Making the adjustment is Burrillville junior John DeMelim. Team leader Josh Groleau, a senior, watches carefully as does faculty adviser Andrew Aldrich. With his back to camera is team member James Wood, a sophomore.  Cal photo/Joseph Fitzgerald 

By JOSEPH FITZGERALD

BURRILLVILLE — The Burrillville High School's robotics team has got some heavy hitters helping out this year — five professional engineers from Raytheon Company's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) who are assisting the students as team mentors.

That's right. The company that provides technology solutions for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, U.S. Armed Forces and Department of Homeland Security, has hooked up five of its engineers with the five student members of the school's For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics team known as The Renegades.
Coupled with a $3,000 check from the company, the Burrillville team, which won the 2007 Ocean State FIRST Tech Challenge and then went on to place 26th in a field of 100 of the best FIRST robotics teams from around the world, could be the team to beat this year at the international competition. On Sunday, Burrillville was among 37 high schools from across Rhode Island competing in the 2008 Annual Ocean State Robotics Tech Challenge at the New England Institute of Technology’s Automotive Center.
At the end of the competition, the Burrillville was one of three teams — Tiverton High School and The Met School the two others — chosen to advance to the international competition April 17-19 in Atlanta.
"We wrecked them (the competitition) and didn't lose a single game in the elimination round," said Andrew Aldrich, the team's faculty adviser, adding the Burrillville team was also given the Inspire Award. The award is given to the team that exhibits the true spirit of FIRST.
"That was almost as good as winning the regional competition," Aldrich said.
Ratheon Company got involved with the local team nack in November thanks to Raytheon Company engineer Michael Molloy, who is also a Burrillville resident. Inspired by the team's state win and international placing last year, Molloy convinced his bosses at Raytheon to let him recruit five engineers to advise the students this year. The company agreed and even decided to donate a little cash.

"I was inspired by Andrew Aldrich," said Molloy. "He was new to the school last year and still put together a winning FIRST Robotics team. That takes a lot of time and dedication. I got involved because I admired what he was able to do."
The team of professional engineers worked with the team of student eneginers for several weeks on the Burrillville robot, also named Renegade. Last week, Malloy and his five Raytheon collegaues -  Larry McLaughlin, Bob Martinek, Scott Pepin, Dan Lafratta and Jay Sperry met with the students -  Josh Groleau, James Wood, Zach Alaire, Nate Desautels and John DeMelim - to make some last-minute adjustments to the robot before Sunday's state competition.
"It was great partnership," says Aldrich. "They made the suggestions and did the work."
The group was joined at last week's meeting by Burrillville High School Interim Principal Robert Boulé, School Superintendent Steven Welford, state Rep. Edwin Pacheco and Raytheon Executive John Letendre.
During the meeting, the team demonstrated what their robot can do and explained what they learned as they went through the six-week building process for this year's competition.
"Raytheon is pleased to support your team," Letendre told the students. "This team has proven that it can get results, and results are what we want from our engineers."

"How many of you want to go to college?" he asked.
Five hands went up.
"That's great because Raytheon hopes your experiences with robotics will encourage you to do well in school and go on to study subjects like engineering, math and science in college,"  Letendre said. "Down the road, remember Raytheon. We need talented engineers and we see students like you as a potential part of our future workforce."
Headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon Company employs 72,000 people worldwide.
Boulé acknowledged Latendre and Raytheon's support for the high school's robotics team. "We know we can't teach these kids alone. We need the community to help, and by providing money and mentors, Raytheon is helping to give our kids a great hands-on learning experience," he said.
FIRST was founded in 1989 to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and technology. Based in Manchester, NH, the not-for-profit public charity designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math. The organization is supported by a network of over 3,000 corporations, educational and professional institutions and individuals.
The FIRST Robotics competition connects students with professional mentors to solve a common problem in a six-week timeframe using a standard "kit of parts" and a common set of rules. Teams build robots from the parts and enter them in competitions.
More than 1,500 teams - over 37,000 high school students from around the world - are expected to complete in next month's international competition.

Robots are built in six weeks from a common kit of parts provided by FIRST, and weigh up to 120 pounds. The kits include motors, batteries, a control system, and a mix of automation components.
During the competitions, the robots race around an oval track knocking down 40" inflated trackballs and moving them around the track, passing them either over or under a 6'6" overpass. Extra points are scored by robots positioning the trackballs back on the overpass before the end of the 2 minute and 15 second match.