Design 2001

This year, the MITE²S students were given the option to pick one of two design-based projects: mechanical engineering design (accompanied by the Internet Programming course) or LEGO® robotics (accompanied by the EntrePrep™ course). The first option led participants to defend their land and comrades in "Space Wars 2001", and the second lined participants up in the political race of "Election 2001".

Space Wars 2001

For three weeks, the students worked in teams to design and program autonomous robots to compete in this year's contest, "Space Wars 2001". Thier goal was to rescue their comrades (black blocks) and bring them home, and send their enemies (white blocks) retreating back to their own base.

Scoring:

+1 point for each comrade in home area (black blocks on their side).
+2 points for each comrade in home base (black blocks in starting area).
-2 points for each enemy in home area (white blocks on their side).
-4 points for each enemy in home base (white blocks in starting area).
-3 points for robot traveling outside of boundary.

Robotics Competition Winners (from left): Daniel Perez (Hacienda Heights, CA), Rachel Lewis (Lewisville, TX), Daniel Nunez (Miami, FL)

Election 2001

The most hotly contested competition of the past year took place not on the football field or the baseball diamond, but rather in the voting booth. The 2000 United States Presidential Election was the closest in the history of our country, and to this day, there are many who believe that the electoral process was not up to standard. In a Press release soon after the November elections, MIT and CalTech pledged to join forces and to develop a reliable US voting machine. "It is embarrassing to America when technology fails and puts democracy to such a test as it did this month... Academic institutions have a responsibility to help repair the voting process..." said CalTech President Dr. David Baltimore. The voting process must ensure that the president that is chosen is well-suited to the position. The joint faculties of these universities have developed such a system, and the MITE²S students were the witnesses of its implementation.

Scoring:

The Popular Vote:
  +2 points for each ballot cast for your candidate.
  +1 point for a dangling chad.
The Electoral Vote:
  To win a region, you must have the majority of the votes cast in that region.   Each region is worth 5 points.
The Butterfly Ballots:
  Yellow: hanging chads will score full value
  Orange: hanging chads have no value
  Red: red team scores 3 points
  Purple: the Supreme Court rules that the results of the Southeast Region   are reversed
  Blue: blue team scores 3 points
  Green: the Green party takes the Northwest (and neither red nor blue gets   those votes)
  Gold: 5 points for the team that knocks out the ballot

Mechancial Engineering Design Contest Winners (from left): Karen Shakespear (Montclair, NJ), Danielle Arviso (Flagstaff, AZ), Brian Guerrero (Friendswood, TX)

Class of 2001 Yearbook