Halliburton Renews Platinum Sponsorship

On Thursday, January 16, Halliburton officially renewed their enduring sponsorship of Texas Torque through a $10,000 donation. Halliburton Director of Strategic Planning Alan Coats passed on the check to Matt Davies, Texas Torque business mentor and director. The donation marks the eighth year of Halliburton’s sustained sponsorship of Texas Torque, having continued to provide support for the team from its early years. For this and much more, we are infinitely thankful and look forward to a sustained relationship between our two organizations.

Matt Davies receives the $10,000 check from Alan Coats.

Matt Davies receives the $10,000 check from Alan Coats.

Texas Torque Visits Halliburton

Texas Torque team members took a trip down to the Halliburton North Belt Technology Center in Houston to further the long-standing relationship between team and sponsor. Both alumni and students had the opportunity to present on Texas Torque’s recent goals and achievements to Halliburton faculty and technology council. All representatives had the amazing experience of touring the Halliburton laboratories, led by company engineers.

The highlight of the visit came with Texas Torque’s demonstration of the 2013 robot, Sonic, to the Halliburton faculty. Following the demonstration, Torque engineers interacted with Halliburton engineers as the faculty members asked questions about the robot’s various functions. Mentors, alumni, and current students were all able to engage in this exchange of questions and ideas.

Co-captain Josh Beridon explains functions of Sonic to Halliburton employees.

Co-captain Josh Beridon explains functions of Sonic to Halliburton employees.

To continue this exchange, Texas Torque discussed the creation of a mentorship program with Halliburton; through this program, students on Texas Torque will be able to learn from the experiences and technical skills of the Halliburton engineers, whose experience in leading the students will surely be applicable on the job. We look forward to the continuation of our relationship with Halliburton and their constant support through our endeavors in and out of the FIRST Robotics season.

FIRST Robotics Competition 2014 Kickoff

After an outstanding 2013 season and a wait seemed to take an eternity, Texas Torque met bright and early for the much-anticipated FIRST Robotics Competition KICKOFF, the webcast through which FIRST reveals the challenge of the year for all FRC teams.

This year’s game — “Aerial Assist” — requires teams to build a robot capable of passing a 2 foot diameter ball to other robots in order to score in ground and 7 foott high goals. Teams may also toss balls over a 5 foot high “truss” that spans the width of the field along the center line. The video released by FIRST is shown below (and can also be accessed under the “About FIRST” tab).

Texas Torque team members and mentors spent the day going over the new set of rules, potential strategies, and the beginnings of design. The event marks the beginning of the build season for Texas Torque; for the next six weeks, team members will work to design, prototype, and construct the robot for the year before the seven week competition season begins. This year, Texas Torque will be attending the Dallas Regional, Lone Star Regional, and the FIRST World Championship (held in St. Louis following the seventh week of competition).

We wish all teams the best of luck this season!