Fueling student innovation: How Milliman supported a robotics team's success

The movement of the machines was mechanized and emotionless, but the looks on the faces of the students behind the controls were anything but automated.

With a tiny bit of help from Milliman, the Wisconsin-based high school robotics team known as the FTC GEarheads competed in the recent FIRST World Championships in Houston and brought home some serious hardware.

FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, and it is an international youth organization that operates the competition, among others.

The GEarheads placed sixth in their division out of 56 teams from all over the world, winning eight of 10 qualifying matches, and they won the second place Inspire Award for professionalism, making them one of the eight best all-around FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams in the world.

“We cannot be more honored and prouder,” said Deborah Nustad, the FTC GEarheads Outreach Coach. “We are very grateful for the outstanding support from sponsors like Milliman, the Elmbrook School District, coaches, mentors, and families who all contributed to their outstanding season.”

The relationship between the GEarheads and the firm came about organically. Milliman has been a strong supporter and sponsor of the Elmbrook School district, which is in Brookfield, Wisc., down the road from one of the firm’s largest offices.

The district’s LAUNCH program allows high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to explore areas of professional interest, and Milliman won an “Excellence in a Community Partnership” award in May 2019 for its work assisting the program with actuarial expertise.

When one of the school district’s robotics teams asked for used laptops to donate to other robotics teams and STEM organizations in need, LAUNCH executive director Dr. Bob Hall reached out to Milliman and other companies, and the firm didn’t hesitate to contribute.

“We run this laptop repurposing project to help more people participate in STEM and FIRST robotics,” said Josef Keup, an 11th grader at Brookfield Central High School. “Participating in FIRST helps people learn how to work as a team to overcome challenges.”

Josef described how his FIRST Tech Challenge team learned CAD, CNC fabrication, and how to code in advanced processes in Java while also engaging in many other outreach efforts, including providing STEM workshops for patients at Children’s Hospital, mentoring other FIRST teams, running a STEM camp for GE Girls, and advocating for increased STEM educational funding at the Wisconsin State Capitol.

“We started this project because we saw first-hand the technology access disparity between our teams and others,” Josef said. “Some robotics teams in Milwaukee had to use their coaches’ work laptops on weekends, which meant no access to be able to do CAD or coding between meetings or even to search for interesting robot videos or designs on-line, et cetera. But they were clearly as eager and interested in learning as we were.

“We knew that some of our families had one or two older laptops being unused that could help these teams in need. We began publicizing our laptop project by hosting collection drives at our public libraries and in bins at our high schools. We even worked with our school district IT leader to secure special Windows 10 licenses from a Microsoft Authorized Reseller (MAR).”

Brian Studebaker and Michael Huard , principals with Milliman’s Health practice, provided 15 used laptops.

“This program really jumped out at us simply because we are so involved in STEM and computer science,” Brian said. “Having some of our depreciated equipment find a new life and inspire young minds to move to the next level just seemed like a perfect fit.”

Also, Brian’s daughter, Brynn, had been on a robotics team and enjoyed being a part of the LAUNCH program three years ago.

“Every opportunity we can get to pay it forward, we try to jump on those opportunities,” Brian said.

The GEarheads paid it forward, too, displaying the Milliman logo on their T-shirts and laptops at the world competition.

“The generosity and support from Milliman have been amazing: true win-win,” Deborah said.

As for the FTC GEarheads, they plan to continue gathering and repurposing laptops in future seasons because they see the impact it is having on many robotics teams and STEM organizations in need.

And Milliman plans to keep contributing laptops. In fact, Huard mentions that the firm already is in the process of donating machines to the Wisconsin National Guard, and there should be more for the GEarheads in the future as well.

“The team at Milliman clearly understands the need for supporting students learning about data analytics through its engagement with the LAUNCH program, and they also understand the value of providing technology access for students in need,” Deborah said.

“Helping students learn and grow in understanding STEM skills, teamwork, and problem solving is clearly something that Milliman supports in our community.

Learn more about the GEarheads' robot in this interview.