Cleveland Park Library 
1st Floor Large Meeting Room 
3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 
(map) 

What's Happening in Robotics:
Robotics, Invention, and Engineering at a DC Public High School
Speaker: John F. Mahoney, Math Teacher,
Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, Washington, DC

Robots, Demos, A New Invention, Discussion, and Award-Winning DC Public High School Students

Description: During the last 5 years, several Washington, DC, schools have been actively involved in robotics. Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, located across Georgia Avenue from Howard University, is in its 4th year of designing, building, and competing, with a 120-pound robot, in FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology, http://www.usfirst.org). Banneker's robotics team has also participated in Botball competitions (http://www.botball.org) and worked with TI calculator-based robots (http://www.smallrobot.com) and the Radio Shack VEX robot
(http://www.radioshack.com).

In October 2005, Banneker Academic High was awarded a $10,000 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant (http://www.inventeams.org) to develop its invention: a cell-phone locker. Banneker was one of only 18 schools across the nation to receive this prestigious award.

John Mahoney, a mathematics teacher at Banneker, and three of his students will display and talk about the robots they have designed and present their invention. The team has relied heavily on help from other organizations in terms of funding, tools, and expertise. Last year members of the Capital PC User Group's (CPCUG's) Robotics SIG were actively involved and extraordinarily helpful in Banneker's robotics program.

Speaker: John F. Mahoney is in his 5th year teaching at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School. Previously he taught mathematics for 24 years at Sidwell Friends School. He has written extensively about Benjamin Banneker's mathematics program and has published more than 40 articles in the last 10 years on a variety of mathematics education topics.

John Mahoney earned the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching in 1994 and The Washington Post's Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher award in 2001. He was also named to USA Today's 2004 All-USA Teacher Team. In June 2005, John Mahoney was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame.

Agenda 

12:30 pm	Check-In Refreshments: Pizza, Salad, Soft Drinks
1:00 pm	Welcome & Announcements
1:15 pm	What's Happening in Robotics
2:40 pm	Q&A
3:00 pm	Closing announcements
3:05 pm	Informal queries, conversation, networking

Presentation Description | Speaker Information | Meeting Agenda | Location  | Sponsors | Registration 

Location: One-half block south of the Cineplex Odeon Uptown movie theatre on Connecticut Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. (There are many restaurants suitable for pre- or post-meeting gathering/networking/refreshment in the block north of the library.) 

Parking: Very small lot, off Macomb St., to left of library. 

Metrorail--Cleveland Park Station on the Red Line (on Connecticut Avenue, just 1.5 blocks north of meeting site)