Judges for the 2005 Tennessee State Tournament

Tom Burgess - Design Award

Tom Burgess is currently the Remote Systems Group Leader in the Nuclear Science and Technology Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  He is a mechanical engineer (UTK, '83) with over 20 years experience in the R&D and design of advanced robotic and remote handling systems, tooling and process systems for hostile environments.   Primary fields of application have included the nuclear fuel cycle, fusion reactors and accelerators.  He has led many R&D and design activities in these fields for both national and international projects.

Craig Bradley - Design Award

Craig Bradley is a development engineer and project manager at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Remote Systems Group.  He has over 25 years experience in leading development projects for remotely operated and robotic equipment.  Some of the equipment he has helped develop include, nuclear fuel handling and dismantling equipment, a radioactive waste transport cart, and a remotely controlled robotic arm for reloading Patriot missiles.  He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, and is a registered Professional Engineer in Tennessee.

Dr. Stephen Canfield - Design Award

Dr. Stephen Canfield received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech, in 1997.   Currently, Dr. Canfield is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Tennessee Technological University.  He teaches courses in kinematics and dynamics of machinery, robotics, mechatronics and intelligent machines.  He and his students are involved in research for compliant spatial manipulators, mobile climbing robots, assistive mechanisms for children with disabilities, and genetic algorithms for synthesis of compliant mechanisms.

Dr. John Draper - Design Award

John Draper is President and Chief Scientist of Raven Research Corporation, a small business performing research and development work in human factors and ergonomics, specializing in teleoperation and virtual reality applications.   Raven Research is located in Lenoir City, Tennessee.

Dr. Jim Jones - Design Award

Dr. Jones received his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee in 1980.  He began his career working directly in nuclear power but personal interests led him to become involved in all aspects of instrumentation.  He has specialized in concept-to-production development of portable, microprocessor-based instrumentation including specifying conceptual designs, designing, programming, testing, and supporting manufacturing.  During his career, Dr. Jones founded and managed two nuclear power service companies and one instrumentation manufacturing and sales company.  He currently provides personal consulting services for supporting electronic designs and for problem resolution in the electric power industry.

Mark Noakes - Design Award

Mark W Noakes, an R&D staff member with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Robotics and Energetic Machines Group, has been involved with development, test, and deployment of robot systems for 20 years.   He received his BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University, his MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee, and is currently completing requirements for a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Tennessee.  His primary interests focus on telerobotics, the human control of machines integrated with autonomous robotic actions to improve performance.

Dr. Lynne Parker - Design Award

Dr. Parker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.   She is also an Adjunct Distinguished Research and Development Staff Member in the Computer Science and Mathematics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  She received her Ph.D. in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  She is a winner of the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.  She performs research in autonomous robots, multi-robot systems, sensor networks, embedded systems, and artificial intelligence.

Paige Stafford - Design Award

Paige Stafford received her Masters Degree in Computer Science from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 2002.  She currently works at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the Networking and Computer Technologies Division.  Her work focuses on network-related business applications such as the Network Registration System.  She designs and implements database (ORACLE, mySQL) driven web applications, and manages the network services, DNS and DHCP. Her preferred programming tools include C, Perl, shell scripts, HTML, and JavaScript.

Tim Baker - Presentation Award

Tim Baker retired from the communications technology industry after 27 years of experience in computer network training and management.  He was formally educated in Organizational Management at the University of Mobile in Mobile, Alabama.  He has been the Director of Education at the Tennessee Aquarium since April of 2002.  As Director, Tim is responsible for environmental education programming which reaches over 130,000 school children each year.  In addition his education department conducts multiple teacher workshops each year to train and encourage teachers to incorporate environmental science into their classroom curricula.

Heather DeGaetano - Presentation Award

Heather DeGaetano is a licensed attorney with several years experience in all areas of fund development including grant writing, planned giving, major gifts, direct marketing and special events.   She writes grants and manages grant funded projects.  A graduate of the University of Georgia and the University of Georgia School of Law, she has been with the Tennessee Aquarium since April 2005.

Bill Haley - Presentation Award

Bill Haley has been a member of the Tennessee Aquarium's Education staff since November 1992, and has held his current position as Education Outreach Coordinator since August 1994.  In this capacity he oversees and presents environmental education programming within a 125 mile radius of the Tennessee Aquarium to 20,000-25,000 people annually.  Due of a lifelong interest in the animal world, i Mr. Haley does numerous field surveys of different animal groups throughout the year.  He is a native of the Chattanooga area and attended both the University of Chattanooga and Chattanooga State Technical Community College.

Charles L. Hayslett II - Presentation Award

Charles Hayslett II has been a Tennessee Aquarium staff member since May 1999.  In his current position as Educator-Technology, he develops applications and manages technology resources for the Tennessee Aquarium's Environmental Learning Lab, Distance Learning and Videoconferencing Suite.  By way of Memphis, TN, Charles attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and has since made the Scenic City his home.  It is there that he carries out the educational mission of the Tennessee Aquarium through helping people gain an appreciation and better understanding of the natural world as well as a sense of stewardship.

Pat Fitchpatrick - Teamwork Award

Pat Fitchpatrick is a graduate of Berea College with a degree in Elementary Education.  She received her MS in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Tennessee Knoxville and taught middle school science in Knox County, TN until retiring in May of 2002.  She has worked with numerous groups having summer camp experiences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.  She was a state finalist for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Math Teaching in 1998.

Martha Hammond - Teamwork Award

Ms. Hammond is a retired teacher with a Masters Degree in elementary education and 26 years of experience in the elementary and middle school grades.  She spent several years of her education career in the Education Branch at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, coordinating education outreach programs for students, pre-college science and math teachers, and university faculty.  Currently, she is employed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) as a Project Manager for the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE).   At ORISE, she manages a number of programs that provide research participation opportunities for students and faculty at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and serves as the coordinator for the Tennessee Science Bowl.

Cindy Shields - Teamwork Award

Cindy Shields received a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 2002 and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Mississippi in 2004.  She is currently employed as a Nuclear Criticality Safety Engineer at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Terry Olberding, P.E. - Teamwork Award

Terry Olberding is the Assistant Manager for the Office of Programs at the Y-12 Site Office, National Nuclear Security Administration.  Her responsibilities include the managing the NNSA programs and projects at the Y-12 Plant.  Terry has twenty-five years of government service.   Previous work experience includes three years as the Assistant Manager for Technical Services at the Y-12 Site Office, several years as a Team Leader in the Nuclear Safety Division at Oak Ridge Operations, and numerous years as a mechanical engineer at the Tennessee Valley Authority.  Terry obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics from the University of Tennessee in 1978, and she is a registered Professional Engineer in Mechanical Engineering.

Yolanda Childs - Team Spirit Award

Yolanda Covington Childs, a native of Centreville, Illinois, received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and has completed graduate courses in both Chemical and Environmental Engineering.  She is employed at the Y-12 National Security Complex as a Systems Engineer.   Yolanda coached FIRST LEGO League teams for the Artic Impact and City Sights Challenges of 2001 and 2002.

---

The FIRST LEGO League Tennessee State Tournaments are co-sponsored by UT-Battelle and the Tennessee Technological University.