On 01 November 2018, Jim Head, Education Chair, AUVIS Pathfinder Chapter Board of Directors, presents RAD Robotics Team #7111 with a grant check for $500.00 provided by the Pathfinder Charitable Foundation. The RAD Robotics Team will use the funds to support their 2019 competition season. Two of our teams who received 2018 PFC grants represented North Alabama well:FTC Team #14491, the Nerdettes, from Owens Cross Roads took home the top honors from the qualifier, the Inspire Award; was a member of the second place Tournament Alliance; placed second for the Connect Award; and placed third for the Design, Control, and Motivate Awards.FTC Team #7842, the Browncoats, was the captain of the Winning Tournament Alliance; won the Design Award; placed second for the Control and Think Awards; and placed third for the Rockwell Collins Innovate Award.Both teams were advanced to the Arkansas State Championship, to be held 8-9 February in Springdale, Arkansas.
with 24 middle school/high school competition teams from Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and West Virginia. The top two teams move on to the Regional Championship in Atlanta, GA. According to Sheryl Darrow (FTC Affiliate Partner) “Over the years, AUVSI Pathfinder has been one of our major sponsor and has purchased most of the equipment we are using.” In previous years they have used the funding to purchase the competition cages and this year the $1,500 AUVSI Pathfinder grant was used to purchase a new projector. 
Twenty four teams made up of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders from Alabama and Tennessee competed in three domains: Models, SimCity4 Modeling, and Formal Presentations. We judged all teams on the best use of Unmanned Systems and our winner of the $150 prize and plaque was the City of “FenAqueous” from the Southside Middle School in Tallassee, AL. Their “FenAquaeous” SimCity design incorporated unmanned systems in space, on land, in water, and underground. They described their selection criteria for robotics and automation as dirty, dull, difficult, or dangerous with examples as to why.
William “Bill” Nichols is a native of Haleyville, Alabama. He graduated in 1976 with a BS in Chemistry from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and in 1983 with an MBA in Systems Acquisition Management from Babson College, Wellesley, MA. He was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Army Ordnance Branch upon graduation from UTC. Throughout his 22 year Army career, he served in various leadership and staff positions of increasing responsibility including Company Commander,; Aide-de-Camp to the Commander, U.S. Army Missile Command; Contracting Officer; Battalion Executive Officer and Material Officer; APM TOW Missile; DASC, TOW Missile and ITAS Fire Control unit in the Pentagon; Product Manager, IBAS and PEO Tactical Missiles Staff Officer. In retirement, he served as Director, Program Support, SYColeman, Inc., for 7 years providing support to the Ground Based Mid-Course Defense Project Office during the design and build of the missile shield in Alaska. He returned to federal service as the Deputy Product Manager, Shadow Unmanned Aerial System and Chief, Operations Division, PM Unmanned Aircraft Systems Project Office. He is currently the Acting Product Director for the Lethal Miniature Aerial Missile System in Close Combat Weapons Systems Project Office. During his 40 years of government service he has deployed to Operation Desert Storm and Somalia while on active duty, and Iraq and Afghanistan while a civil servant along with many intermediate locations in the Middle East.