Sophomore Ivan France finds passion in robotics

Sophomore Ivan France

It is 9 p.m., and the campus seems empty, minus one room with light filtering through the window shafts. In a small room off of the music quad, diligent members of MSET (Mechanical Science and Engineering Team) tighten bolts, drill holes and cut metal. At the peak of their build season, robotics members regularly work with machine-oil grease coating their hands and sawdust clinging to their sleeves.

Despite the chaos in the room, sophomore Ivan France, the vice president of the team, calmly directs the design team to drill the final holes on the robot. Quickly the members plug in the air-powered hand drills to the bright orange pneumatic tubes. France yells, “Turn on the air compressor!”

Hoping to work as a mechanical engineer one day, France came to Saratoga High last year determined to make a mark on the robotics team. He joined MSET and proved to be one of the most useful freshman.

France built a major component of last year’s robot. This work required expertise with several materials including wood and metal. He designed, built and tested the vital component within just a few weeks. Soon after, France was able to assist Cordell Hollingsworth, the previous MSET president, with many of the other aspects of the robot.

During his freshman year, France was supported by his parents since his dad has a strong engineering background and his mom looked to lead the team in finances and communications. Their support allowed France to donate many hours a week to MSET.

Now in his sophomore year, France is leading the 2012 build season. After Hollingsworth graduated, the team was deprived of an experienced member who orchestrated last year’s build season.

“Even with Cordell, there had to be a certain level of initiative to get everything else done to get in the room and be a helpful asset to the team, and I think that taking a leadership position has required more initiative than the loss of Cordell, although the two are somewhat connected,” France said.

During this season, France has been able to spend productive hours in the room, focusing on improving components of the robot or leading discussions with robotics members.

As France heads into junior year, his involvement and leadership will greatly change the team’s success and hopefully take the team to a successful win at the St. Louis National Competition.

If all goes well and the team’s robot can perform well at the upcoming regionals, France hopes MSET could emerge as a future contender among traditional powerhouse teams such as Bellarmine and Mountain View High.