THE NEW ORTOP WEBSITE COMETH!!!  

After 17 years and coinciding with the total eclipse of the sun, ORTOP will launch a brand new website on Monday, August 21st.  

We hope everyone will benefit from a streamlined website that will allow you to access materials quicker. 

We expect a few bad links and some 404 messages as we work out the bugs.  If there is something you'd like to see included on the FTC Oregon part of the new site or would like to report a bug issue, please email Cathy Swider. 

_______________________________________________________________

SOLAR ECLIPSE OF THE SUN - Monday ! 
FIRST Tech Challenge Oregon extends a huge congratulations and good luck wishes to Tigard Tech for their NASA Solar Eclipse Balloon Project. The team which includes FIRST Tech Challenge team members and alumni will culminate their 14-month project by  launching a scientific weather balloon with attached video payload on Monday morning, August 21st from Culver High School in Central Oregon.   KPTV highlighted their project on their newsbroadcast on 8/15/17. 

In celebration of the Solar Eclipse, ORTOP Executive Director David Perry, declared Monday, August 21st as an official ORTOP Science Holiday. Our office will be closed  allowing staff to scatter throughout Oregon to their spots on the red line.

RELIC RECOVERY KICK-OFF!  Saturday, September 9, 2017

It's official! We have locations and times for our LIVE  Kick-offs.
Please plan to attend and please invite others who might be interested in starting FIRST Tech Challenge teams. I have MJ Murdock Grants for brand new teams! Please help us outreach to potential new teams. 

• The following locations will have Relic Recovery fields set up for teams to explore and plot their path to a successful season. 
• DOORS OPEN AT 8:30 AM / Game Animation at 9:00 am 
• Each Kickoff site will feature a showing of the Game Animation video and Relic Recovery field.

• BEND 
• Summit High School 2855 NW Clearwater Dr, Bend, OR 97703
• Additional details on presentations TBA
• HILLSBORO 
• Intel Jones Farm Conference Center Auditorium 
• 2111 Northeast 25th Street, Hillsboro, OR 97124 
• Additional details on presentations TBA 
• HOOD RIVER 
• Hood River Valley High School 
• 1220 Indian Creek Rd, Hood River, OR 97031
• Additional details on presentations TBA 
• MEDFORD 
• St. Mary's School 
• 816 Black Oak Dr, Medford, OR 97504
• Teams will
• watch the Relic Recovery animated video, see the arena 
• listen to Matt Heverly from the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and Mars Curiosity Rover driver talk about the methodical steps routinely used in solving an engineering challenge 
• brainstorm solutions in a breakout session, 
• have lunch (yes, there are free lunches!) with other teams
• participate in practical educational sessions for old and new teams.  Topics may include: programming, control system Vuforia, engineering notebook, presentations to judges, season organization, SolidWorks CAD, 3D printing, etc.  
• Let us know if your team is interested in making a presentation.  Every effort will be made to make it a worthwhile and action-packed day.  Let us know if you plan to come and how many are coming so that we can order the right amount of food.  Just bring your positive energy and a good appetite.  
• CHECK OUT #8372 TNT - YouTube FTC Workshop Presentations Channel 

ORTOP Team Support Awards $$$$

To date we have received a relatively small amount applications for financial team support. For that reason, I have changed the grant deadline/notification schedule.   :-(
What you need to know:

• ODE: In case you are just tuning in, ORTOP was awarded the Oregon Department of Education: FIRST Robotics Grant.  In past years, public school teams applied directly to ODE for these funds. This year, public schools will complete an ORTOP Team Support Award Application for ODE funding. There are different applications for each FIRST program; FLL, FTC and FRC. 
• ELIGIBILITY: If your team is not affiliated with a public school, you are still eligible to apply for a number of the corporate sponsored grants. 
• THE ORTOP FTC APP: The ORTOP Team Support Award Application: FIRST Tech Challenge  acts as a "Common Application" that covers ALL sources of funding that ORTOP has available for FIRST Tech Challenge including ODE, corporate grants and corporate giving dollars. 
• There are two types of applications 
• NEW Team/School/Organization Application - brand new teams at new locations (referred to as  Rookie App)
• EXISTING Team/School/Organization Application - locations where FIRST Tech Challenge already exists (referred to as  Veteran App).  If location (school or organization) wants to ADD additional new teams to their existing teams this is the application to use. 
• NEW Deadline/Notification Schedule
  • Applications accepted from NOW - September 30th. No applications will be accepted after September 30th.
  • 1st round notifications will begin Sept 30th for all awards for applications submitted by September 15th. 
  • 2nd round notifications will happen on October 10th for all awards for applications submitted by September 30th. 
• LINK TO THE ORTOP Team Support Award Information/Application page for FIRST Tech Challenge