by Erin Turner | Jul 17, 2015 | News Slider
Robots slid through the classrooms of James D. Hughes Center this week under the direction of young campers, ages 8-11, who carefully piloted the controllers. The youngsters were a part of Lipscomb’s Junior BisonBot Camp — now in its ninth year. The robot experience began as a small camp and has grown into a program that now includes several weeks of robotics camps for different age groups, sponsored by the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering and Nissan. Robotics camp co-director Ginger Reasonover — whose son Bryan hatched the idea for the camp — has been watching young engineers build robots since the camp began in 2006. The camp started out as Bryan’s Eagle project for scouting. The year before Bryan had been a part of BEST Robotics, a middle and high school robotics competition. “He said ‘you know, it’d be really cool if kids knew a little bit about electronics and motors and gears before they came to BEST,’ so he put on — with the blessing and help of [Lipscomb’s] Engineering College — the first robot camp,” Reasonover said. The first year the camp was called BERP, standing for “Bryan’s Engineering Robotic Project.” “It was such a success and there was such a need that the university picked it up and then the year after that Nissan came along as a sponsor,” Reasonover said. And Reasonover isn’t the only person to continue with the camp as it has developed. Counselor David Jack started as a camper and now serves as a counselor. “The first year that I was here it was not nearly as elaborate, but we had a...
by Emily Snell | Jun 21, 2012 | News Slider
School children armed with engineering tools have been learning electronics and robotics skills this month as part of Lipscomb’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering partnership with Nissan for the Lipscomb/Nissan BisonBot Robotics Camp. The camp, which started May 28, offers weeklong sessions, teaching elementary, middle and high school students about the basics of engineering. A diverse group of more than 120 students from across the country will have attended the camp by the time it ends June 29. According to Ginger Reasonover, co-director of the camp, the idea originated from her son Bryan’s Eagle Scout project. Reasonover said her son wanted to help kids participate in robotics while also learning about engineering. “It was such a huge hit that the university decided, ‘We’re going to do this next year,’” Reasonover said. Since 2007 when the camp began, Reasonover said it has continued to grow and gain support from the community and local businesses. In 2010, Nissan began sponsoring the camp. “They’ve increased their support every year,” she said. “A huge kudos to Nissan. With their support, we have been able to build this to what it is. Without their support, we couldn’t have this many kids; we couldn’t have this many counselors.” The camp involves a balanced approach between lecture and hands-on experience. Reasonover said the students attend lecture with engineering professors or working professionals and then have an opportunity to apply that learning in a workshop-type setting. The week culminates in a robotics competition and presentation for parents and friends, which allows the campers to showcase the projects they created during camp. The camp also includes a...
