Blue Marble Security continues to grow with the addition of a new partnership with Columbia Forest Products of Newport, VT. This project,
which will run for a year, involves mitigating the waste produced in hardwood veneer manufacturing processes. It is Blue Marble's second sponsored project, joining a Rockwell Collins sponsored team which is investigating the propagation of digital television signals.

Blue Marble also has several internally funded projects, including projects involving renewable energy, personal security, unmanned underwater vehicles, SONAR, robotics, and firefighter safety. The enterprise is also currently applying for an EPA grant to fund their renewable energy project.

The Robotic Systems Enterprise (RSE) competition division, in partnership
with General Motors and Daimler Chrysler kick off this year's version of the FIRST Robotics competition.

This competition has RSE members working with local high school students to design and build a remote controlled/semi-autonomous robot to complete in a game which is changed each year. This year's game was unveiled on January 8th, and the teams have six weeks before their machine has to be shipped to it's first competition. The competition is an unparalleled opportunity for MTU students to hone their skills in planning, design, fabrication, mentoring, budgeting, and much more.

The team plans to travel to two regional competitions this year, in Lower Michigan and Chicago, and maybe to the National event in Atlanta, GA. Check out usfirst.org for more information about this year's game.