Grant Imahara stars in FMA/UL Laboratories safety video.
Press Release Summary:
Featured online for access by 37,000 high school students participating in FIRST Robotics program, 6-minute safety video highlights importance of wearing safety goggles, proper footwear, protective gloves, and ear protection, as well as reporting all injuries. It also discusses how to properly use tools and power strips and how to safely move completed robotic projects both in workshop and during competitions.
Original Press Release:
Mythbusters' Grant Imahara Stars In FMA/UL Laboratories Safety Video For 2009 First Robotics Competition
ROCKFORD, Ill., Jan. 5, 2009 - Grant Imahara -- Mythbusters host by day and robot builder by night -- stars in the new FIRST Robotics instructional safety video from the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International (FMA) and UL Laboratories. The six-minute production is featured online to access by the 37,000 high school students participating in the FIRST Robotics program that kicked off nationwide on Jan. 3.
The video, which also features "guest appearances" by Sir Isaac Newton and Ben Franklin, highlights the importance of wearing safety goggles, proper footwear, protective gloves and ear protection, and to report all injuries. It also discusses how to properly use tools and power strips and how to safely move completed robotic projects both in the workshop and during competitions.
The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges teams of young people and their 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 judged by a committee of engineers and other professionals.
"The FIRST Robotics Competition is designed to help high-school-aged young people discover the joys of innovating and creating," said Jim Warren, director of education for the FMA. "We are pleased to have the participation of Grant Imahara to help us reach out to youth about this exciting competition and convey key safety messages."
The safety video can be viewed online at www.fma-foundation.org.
Imahara, a six year FIRST Robotics mentor, believes that the competition is an ideal opportunity to get kids interested in making things.
"I've found that students really dedicate themselves to the program," said Imahara. "Being involved in a robotics program has cachet for a young person. Activities like these that have a goal and real purpose behind them are easy for kids to get excited about - and hopefully will eventually lead to careers in manufacturing.
"Kids are learning incredibly valuable skills when they take a concept to completion and translate ideas into reality," he added.
Mythbusters, airing on the Discovery Channel, features hosts who set up experiments using a combination of science and special effects in order to recreate and debunk potentially false, but common, urban legends, hoping to set the record straight once and for all for the public. In the process, however, the team's experiments occasionally prove the odd myth to actually be true.
Based in Rockford, Ill., the Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, International is a professional organization with more than 2,300 members working together to improve the metal forming and fabricating industry. Founded in 1970, FMA brings metal fabricators and fabricating equipment manufacturers together through technology councils, educational programs, networking events and the FABTECH International &AWS Welding Show. FMA also has a technology affiliate, the Tube & Pipe Association, International (TPA), which focuses on the unique needs of companies engaged in tube and pipe producing and fabricating.
