The AT&T Labs Fellowship Program awards scholarships and grants to women and minority post-graduate students. The AT&T Foundation has also announced a new scholarship program offered in conjunction with UNCF to provide scholarships for African-American children or stepchildren of regular full-time employees of AT&T, Inc. and its U.S. subsidiaries.

Exxon Mobil, in partnership with SECME schools, awards scholarships annually to minority students who are entering math and engineering programs. Mobil Delvac, part of Exxon Mobil, also awards Agricultural Scholarships for students studying agriculture.

Applicant must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident and a minority student enrolled in full-time studies leading to a bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university in the U.S. and have a minimum GPA of 3.25. Award is based upon academic performance, performance in business or engineering-related subjects, pursuing a career in business or engineering, writing ability, extracurricular activities, and community involvement.

This program awards scholarships of up to $7,500 annually to minority high school students. Scholarships are meant for four-year college students who can demonstrate financial need and leadership potential.

Bank of America Joe Martin Scholarship program is a competitive scholarship program available for college or vocational schools to dependents of associates who have been employed by Bank of America for at least 1 year. Dependents of deceased, disabled, or retired associates also are eligible. Awards range from $1,000 to $5,000 for each year of full-time enrollment. Scholarship awards are based on academic achievement, leadership, contributions to school and community, character, and financial need.

Society of Manufacturing Engineers Ford PAS Scholarships offers three $10,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors who have also participated in the PAS program. The Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies (PAS) program enrolls high school students into informal internship or mentorships where students can learn from business professionals and academics. PAS focuses on education in the sciences, engineering, math and other technical fields.

The Thomas G. Labrecque Smart Start Scholarship Program is open to graduating high school seniors in New York City who will attend a participating four-year college or university within one of the five boroughs. Awards are given for both academic achievement and financial need. Awards include full tuition, textbook stipends and paid summer internships with JP Morgan Chase.

Best Buy’s @15 Scholarship Program is awarding $1,500 in scholarship money to 1,000 students living in the United States and Puerto Rico. Students who will be entering college in the fall after graduating from high school will be eligible for this scholarship. Students should demonstrate excellent academic achievements, volunteer efforts and work experience. Best Buy wants to help you to prepare for a brighter future by awarding you money for college tuition.

Golden Key believes in rewarding its members for their academic, leadership and service excellence. To this end, the Society offers more than $600,000 in member-only scholarships. Golden Key’s scholarships and awards are administered by Golden Key headquarters annually and require a formal application. Each scholarship has a unique submission deadline and application process.

The Rotary Foundation awards scholarships for citizen of countries that have Rotary Clubs. Ambassadorial Scholarships, The Rotary Foundation’s oldest and best-known program, was founded in 1947. Since then, more than 40,000 men and women from about 100 nations have studied abroad under it. Today it is one of the world’s largest privately funded international scholarships programs. Nearly 700 scholarships were awarded for study in 2009-10. Through grants totaling approximately US$16.2 million, recipients from about 70 countries studied in more than 80 nations.

Coca-Cola awards a number of scholarships to graduating high school students pursuing 4-year degrees, but the company also has scholarships for students endeavoring to attend 2-year colleges. The Coca−Cola Scholars Foundation has announced the establishment of the Coca−Cola All-State Community College Academic Team program, providing up to $450,000.00 in scholarships. The top scoring student from each state will be a “New Century Scholar” and receive a $2,000.00 scholarship. Fifty students will be “Gold Scholars” and be awarded $1,500.00, fifty students will be “Silver Scholars” and be awarded $1,250.00, and fifty students will be “Bronze Scholars” and be awarded $1,000.00.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities. Scholarships are for those applicants who live in the U.S., where there are participating local chapters. The applicant must be a high school senior and under 21 years of age. The scholarships are available for either four-year or two-year colleges.

Wal-Mart gives a significant number of scholarships in each of their communities to graduating high school students.

Wal-Mart offers the Wal-Mart Associate Scholarship, which requires that the applicant be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Legal Resident of the United States, be employed part-time or full-time with Walmart Stores for at least six consecutive months prior to the application due date, must have graduated high school/home school or obtained a GED before applying, and able to demonstrate financial need.

Rhodes Scholars are elected for two years of study at the University of Oxford, England, with the possibility of renewal for a third year. All educational costs, such as matriculation, tuition, laboratory and certain other fees are paid by the Rhodes Trustees. Each Scholar receives, in addition, an allowance to meet expenses during term-time and vacations. The Rhodes Trustees cover the necessary costs of travel to and from Oxford, and upon application, may approve additional grants for research purposes or study-related travel. Applicant must be a citizen of the United States, applicant, by October 1, 2010, must be at least 18 but not yet 24 years of age, must have achieved academic standing sufficiently advanced to assure completion of a bachelor’s degree before October 1, 2010. The maximum award varies.

The Dell Scholarship Program is offered to high school students participating in an approved AVID program. The funding for each Dell Scholar is $20,000. The value of the 250 scholarships available equals $5 million. MSDF funds a significant percentage of college expenses which allows students to focus on their studies and successfully complete a bachelor’s program. Eligibility requirements: Graduating from an accredited high school this academic year, earning a minimum of a 2.4 GPA, demonstrate need for financial assistance, participating in an MSDF approved college readiness program for a minimum of two years, planning to enter a bachelor’s degree program at an accredited higher education institution in the fall directly after graduation from high school, and be a U.S. citizenship or permanent resident.

The Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS), funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was established in 1999 to provide African American, American Indian/Alaska Natives, Asian Pacific Islander Americans, and Hispanic American students with an opportunity to complete an undergraduate college education in all discipline areas, and a graduate education for those students pursuing studies in mathematics, science, engineering, education, or library science. Requirements for scholarship consideration are the following: must be a citizen, national or legal permanent resident of the United States, have attained a cumulative high school GPA of 3.3 on an unweighted 4.0 scale or have earned a GED.

The HP Scholar Award is a scholarship for students interested in engineering. The total value of the four-year scholarship, which includes the HP Scholar Productivity Package and the three paid internships, will exceed $40,000 per student. Scholarship awards are $12,000 ($3000 per year for four years). Upon acceptance, each HP Scholar receives a Productivity Package which includes an HP laptop, printer, and PDA. HP Scholars are eligible for three paid summer internships with HP at an HP location in the US during their undergraduate studies. Requirements for the scholarship: African American, Latino, and American Indian high school seniors or community college transfer students who will be attending one of the HP Scholar partnership universities (University of California, Los Angeles, North Carolina A&T, Morgan State University, or University of Washington) and will be majoring in computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering.

Applicant must be enrolled in a two- or four-year U.S. college or university undergraduate course of study, full time (At least 12 college credit hours) in the fall semester. Be a graduating high school/home school senior. Requirements to apply: have at least a 2.5 cumulative high school GPA, and have taken either the ACT or SAT standardized tests, be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Legal Resident of the United States, not be a Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. employee or dependent of an employee, demonstrate financial need by required documents. The Maximum Amount: $100000

Google offers scholarships that will help women and minorities enter computing and technology fields.

The AISES Google Scholarship awards scholarships to American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian AISES members for degrees in computer science, management information systems and computer engineering. Maximum Amount:$10,000.

The 18th Trinity College Fire Fighting Home Robot Contest 2011 merupakan kontes robot pemadam api tertua di dunia. Trinity College merupakan perguruan tinggi yang pertama kali menyelenggarakan kontes robot pemadam api, sehingga pelaksanaan kontes robot cerdas pemadam api di seluruh dunia berkiblat pada kejuaraan ini.


Selesaikan Seluruh Tantangan Misi
Dijelaskan oleh Dody Suhendra (Teknik Elektro 05), manajer tim robot ITB, bahwa pada kontes yang berlangsung Sabtu-Minggu (09-10/04/11) ini, terdapat beberapa tantangan yang ditawarkan untuk diambil oleh peserta kontes. Tim robot ITB memutuskan mengambil semua tantangan, dan berhasil mengatasi seluruhnya dengan baik.

Pada kontes ini, robot pemadam api yang dilombakan diletakkan di dalam labirin. Labirin yang satu berbeda dengan labirin lainnya, sehingga robot harus dapat menyelesaikan misi pada kondisi labirin yang berbeda-beda. Labirin satu dengan lainnya memiliki posisi pintu dan posisi sumber panas yang berbeda-beda. Robot ITB mampu menyelesaikan misi dalam kondisi posisi pintu dan posisi sumber panas yang diacak, serta tidak terkecoh oleh sumber panas lain seperti lampu.

Robot ITB pun dapat menyelesaikan misi dengan baik dalam berbagai posisi start. "Robot dari negara lain hanya dapat memulai penyelesaian misi pada posisi start tertentu," tutur Dody. "Lain halnya dengan robot ITB, dimanapun diletakkan pada awalnya, ia dapat melanjutkan mencari sumber api dan memadamkannya dengan baik," ungkapnya.

Selanjutnya, robot ITB dapat mengetahui kondisi ruangan tanpa memasukinya secara penuh. "Hanya dengan masuk setengah badan, robot ITB sudah dapat mengetahui apakah di ruangan tertentu terdapat sumber api. Jika tidak terdapat sumber api, robot akan keluar lagi. Robot dari negara lain harus masuk seluruh badan untuk dapat mengetahui kondisi ruangan," tambah manajer tim robot ITB ini.

Dody bercerita bahwa dia dan timnya sempat kurang percaya diri menghadapi Portugal, dimana terdapat mahasiswa pascasarjana di dalam tim, menghadapi Cina dan nama besarnya, serta tim robot juara nasional dari Israel. Bahkan, terdapat tim dari Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Amerika Serikat.

Namun tim robot ITB berusaha yakin akan kemampuan yang dimiliki. Robot ITB di antaranya unggul dalam hal kekokohan desain mekanik, kematangan riset (riset telah dilakukan selama dua tahun), serta efisiensi dan efektivitas program.

Sukses Atasi Hambatan Nonteknis

Prestasi ini, dituturkan oleh Dody, dicapai bukan tanpa hambatan. Komponen yang dibutuhkan untuk mendesain robot umumnya tidak tersedia di lab, sehingga tim robot harus membeli menggunakan sumber pendanaan yang terbatas. Tidak jarang, komponen-komponen yang diperlukan harus dibeli di luar negeri. Lain halnya dengan negara seperti Cina dan Amerika Serikat; komponen mekanik seperti motor servo atau baling-baling tertentu telah tersedia di dalam negeri. Kurangnya dana tentu merupakan hambatan yang signifikan. Kebutuhan untuk riset dan desain mencapai nominal 60 juta.

Ruangan untuk pengetesan juga seringkali tidak tersedia; untuk melakukan pengetesan, idealnya dibutuhkan ruangan 15 x 15 meter persegi. Tim robot juga harus berkonsentrasi mendesain robot di tengah-tengah beban kuliah dan tuntutan akademik. Waktu yang tersedia untuk desain, perakitan, dan pengetesan hanyalah malam atau akhir minggu.

Di luar kendala desain dan perakitan, sebenarnya terdapat kendala-kendala nonteknis. Kemampuan tim robot ITB untuk dapat bersaing di tengah-tengah kendala yang dihadapi sudah merupakan prestasi yang membanggakan.

Universitas Indonesia (UI) berhasil meraih penghargaan di ajang Kompetisi Robot Internasional 'The 13th International Robot Olympiad 2011 (IRO)' melalui 3 robotnya. Di ajang yang berlangsung pada 15-18 Desember 2011 lalu itu, UI mengirim tiga tim yang terdiri dari mahasiswa Fakultas Teknik dan Fakultas Ilmu Komputer, yakni 'tim Inxscopoda' (Hadid Fadhila, Irvan JP Elliika dan Fredrick Sanjaya), tim 'SMART-CUE' (Novika Ginanto, Tito Apriano, dan Lasguido) dan tim 'Si Gale-Gale' (Crisman Wise PS dan Deny K. Sihombing).

Inxscopoda

Tim Inxscopoda (Indonesia Explorer Scorpio Robot of Post Disaster Area With Integrated Android) membuat sebuah robot pelacak telecontrolled mampu menjelajahi daerah berbahaya dan mendapatkaninformasi tentang kondisi tentang kondisi daerah tanpa mempertaruhkan keselamatan tim SAR. Informasi seperti suhu, kelembaban, dan visualisasi daerah ini diambil dengan menggunakan sensor yang terpasang pada robot dan ditransmisikan ke komputer menggunakan koneksi nirkabel kontroler.

Inxscopoda menggunakan sensor ponsel Android (GPS, Accelerometer, giroskop) untuk membantu kemampuan lokalisasinya. Ponsel Android juga berfungsi sebagai back-up dan penyimpanan data. Dengan dua tangan, Inxscopoda mampu mengangkat benda atau memindahkan manusia dari reruntuhan. Trek memungkinkan Inxscopoda untuk bergerak di daerah yg tidak stabil.

SmarT-Cue

SmarT-Cue merupakan sebuah robot yang menyerupai sebuah meja. Robot ini bertujuan untuk membantu manusia dalam menyelamatkan barang-barang berharganya, yaitu perangkat elektronik seperti televisi, radio, dvd player, komputer dan lain sebagainya dari bencana banjir yang sering terjadi di Indonesia, namun dengan ketinggian air mencapai 250 cm atau sekitar setinggi dada orang dewasa.

Oleh karena itu, SmarT-Cue bukan hanya sebuah robot namun dapat dijadikan sebagai sebuah meja di rumah. Sistem kerja SmarT-Cue adalah terus berekspansi ke atas seiiring dengan bertambahnya ketinggian air banjir di dalam rumah dan jika ketinggian ekspansi SmarT-Cue sudah melebihi batas, maka SmarT-Cue akan terapung dan tentunya dengan diaktifkanya mode penutup.

Pengendalian navigasi SmarT-Cue dapat dilakukan dengan kabel (keypad) dan nirkabel (remote tv). Selain itu, SmarT-Cue juga dilengkapi dengan sistem peringatan banjir berupa SMS ke pemilik rumah yang juga terintegrasi dengan aplikasi alaram berbasiskan android minimal versi 2.2.3.

Si Gale-gale

Sigale-gale adalah robot yang menonjolkan seni budaya dan artistik. Robot ini mampu menirukan tarian tradisional batak (Sumatera Utara) dan dimodifikasi khusus dengan desain budaya yang menonjol.

Dilengkapi dengan 21 actuator robot ini mampu bergerak dengan lebih luwes dan bebas. Robot ini menggunakan sensor bunyi, sehingga untuk aktifasinya hanya dengan menepukkan tangan. Dan yang membuat robot ini spesial adalah gerakan/tariannya yang sesuai dengan tempo dan beat dari musik pengiringnya.