it's nice knowing education is caught in the crossfire
UE contest robot grounded
Airline refuses to allow it on plane
By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or langhornet@courierpress.com
April 13, 2005
An important learning opportunity for two University of Evansville students has been lost, claimed as one of the latest casualties of America's war on terror.
Bruce Rahman and Chris Miller, and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering James Reising were forced to leave Evansville Regional Airport on Saturday when an airline refused to let them board a plane with a small computer-controlled robot built for firefighting.
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The trio had intended to fly to the annual Trinity College Firefighting Home Robot Contest in Hartford, Conn., an international competition that was to feature 121 teams representing several countries.
But employees of Northwest Airlink, a regional division of Northwest Airlines, said no.
Contest officials say the Evansville team was the only one to be forbidden to fly with its robot, and the only team in the event's 12-year history known to have been shut out of competition because of security concerns.
"One of the things we want to learn from this is, 'How do we make sure this never happens again?'" said Hartford-based Contest Director Juliet Manalan. "We had teams from all over the U.S., and countries like Singapore, South Korea, Israel and Canada, and they all flew to the contest with their robots without any problems."
Northwest and the students agree Rahman called more than a week before the flight to Hartford to ascertain whether there might be problems with the robot.
But the airline and the students disagree over what happened next.
Rahman says he spoke to officials of the airport, Northwest and the federal Transportation Security Administration, though he did not get any of their names. He said Northwest and transportation officials asked what the robot does, and he explained its functions.
Rahman said it was agreed he would bring the robot to the airport sometime before the 10:08 a.m. flight so the Transportation Security Administration could inspect it.
"I even asked them if I should come over there an extra day early," he said. "The guy I talked to said that would be fine, but it wasn't necessary."
Rahman recalled that the Transportation Security Administration said he and the others could have the robot inspected on the morning of their flight, as long as they arrived early enough to give inspectors a reasonable amount of time to check out the robot.
He and Miller said Northwest employees were concerned that motors attached to the robot's wheels and magnets inside the motors could disrupt an airplane's inner workings.
The college students arrived slightly more than an hour before the flight was due to depart. But Philip Reed, vice president of marketing for Northwest Airlines, said that wasn't enough time.
"When they called, our people told them they needed to see how the robot was packaged and they wanted to see its components," Reed said. "They were supposed to come out before an hour prior to the flight."
Reed said Northwest Airlink employees were not qualified to decide whether the robot was safe.
"If (Rahman and Miller) had come out to the airport even 45 minutes earlier, it wouldn't have been an issue," he said. "(Northwest employees) could have called headquarters and spoken to a hazardous materials specialist."
Reed said - and Rahman and Miller agreed - that Northwest's employees tried without success to find another airline that would let the Evansville contingent fly to Hartford with its robot.
"(Northwest employees) just ran out of time before the flight left, and that's the baseline," Reed said. "It's unfortunate. In today's relatively tenuous, security-driven environment, with hazardous goods that may be unfamiliar, caution and a little more time were what was needed."
Among the teams that successfully flew with their robots to Hartford were three students representing Valparaiso University in northwestern Indiana.
They carried their robot on board with them after getting it through an airport security checkpoint without incident.
But first, Valparaiso student Manav Alagh asked employees at United Airlines' airport ticket counter whether they objected to the team's robot. They didn't, as long as security didn't have a problem with it.
Miller and Rahman, who said they stayed up all night Friday to get their robot ready to compete in Hartford, expressed keen disappointment at the airport mishap. Rahman, a senior, has missed his last chance to participate in the annual Firefighting Home Robot Contest. He took some solace in the knowledge that the robot can be demonstrated to student groups for the next year instead of being mothballed.
Miller feels his efforts were wasted. "After all the time we spent to make sure we were ready on time ..." he said.
Airline refuses to allow it on plane
By THOMAS B. LANGHORNE Courier & Press staff writer 464-7432 or langhornet@courierpress.com
April 13, 2005
An important learning opportunity for two University of Evansville students has been lost, claimed as one of the latest casualties of America's war on terror.
Bruce Rahman and Chris Miller, and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering James Reising were forced to leave Evansville Regional Airport on Saturday when an airline refused to let them board a plane with a small computer-controlled robot built for firefighting.
Advertisement
The trio had intended to fly to the annual Trinity College Firefighting Home Robot Contest in Hartford, Conn., an international competition that was to feature 121 teams representing several countries.
But employees of Northwest Airlink, a regional division of Northwest Airlines, said no.
Contest officials say the Evansville team was the only one to be forbidden to fly with its robot, and the only team in the event's 12-year history known to have been shut out of competition because of security concerns.
"One of the things we want to learn from this is, 'How do we make sure this never happens again?'" said Hartford-based Contest Director Juliet Manalan. "We had teams from all over the U.S., and countries like Singapore, South Korea, Israel and Canada, and they all flew to the contest with their robots without any problems."
Northwest and the students agree Rahman called more than a week before the flight to Hartford to ascertain whether there might be problems with the robot.
But the airline and the students disagree over what happened next.
Rahman says he spoke to officials of the airport, Northwest and the federal Transportation Security Administration, though he did not get any of their names. He said Northwest and transportation officials asked what the robot does, and he explained its functions.
Rahman said it was agreed he would bring the robot to the airport sometime before the 10:08 a.m. flight so the Transportation Security Administration could inspect it.
"I even asked them if I should come over there an extra day early," he said. "The guy I talked to said that would be fine, but it wasn't necessary."
Rahman recalled that the Transportation Security Administration said he and the others could have the robot inspected on the morning of their flight, as long as they arrived early enough to give inspectors a reasonable amount of time to check out the robot.
He and Miller said Northwest employees were concerned that motors attached to the robot's wheels and magnets inside the motors could disrupt an airplane's inner workings.
The college students arrived slightly more than an hour before the flight was due to depart. But Philip Reed, vice president of marketing for Northwest Airlines, said that wasn't enough time.
"When they called, our people told them they needed to see how the robot was packaged and they wanted to see its components," Reed said. "They were supposed to come out before an hour prior to the flight."
Reed said Northwest Airlink employees were not qualified to decide whether the robot was safe.
"If (Rahman and Miller) had come out to the airport even 45 minutes earlier, it wouldn't have been an issue," he said. "(Northwest employees) could have called headquarters and spoken to a hazardous materials specialist."
Reed said - and Rahman and Miller agreed - that Northwest's employees tried without success to find another airline that would let the Evansville contingent fly to Hartford with its robot.
"(Northwest employees) just ran out of time before the flight left, and that's the baseline," Reed said. "It's unfortunate. In today's relatively tenuous, security-driven environment, with hazardous goods that may be unfamiliar, caution and a little more time were what was needed."
Among the teams that successfully flew with their robots to Hartford were three students representing Valparaiso University in northwestern Indiana.
They carried their robot on board with them after getting it through an airport security checkpoint without incident.
But first, Valparaiso student Manav Alagh asked employees at United Airlines' airport ticket counter whether they objected to the team's robot. They didn't, as long as security didn't have a problem with it.
Miller and Rahman, who said they stayed up all night Friday to get their robot ready to compete in Hartford, expressed keen disappointment at the airport mishap. Rahman, a senior, has missed his last chance to participate in the annual Firefighting Home Robot Contest. He took some solace in the knowledge that the robot can be demonstrated to student groups for the next year instead of being mothballed.
Miller feels his efforts were wasted. "After all the time we spent to make sure we were ready on time ..." he said.
posted by NoobJenkins at 6:12 AM
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