Members Skylar Onstot, Lance Harman and Payton Rollag, (left to right) showed off a few of their four-propeller quadcopters Sept. 27 at the Activities and Resource Fair. One had a body that was created on a 3-D printer at the Makerspace by club president Alex Hawthorne (physics ’19), who took the club off the ground.
Kwad Dawgs is planning workshops and looking to race drones. "Whoever does it the fastest without crashing wins," says Harman, (law, economics and public policy '19).
Rollag (mechanical engineering '19) expects to use a quad in a senior capstone project. And, Onstot (computer science and software engineering '19) is researching the quadcopter microcontroller to see what may be programmed. He also expects it will fly as a class project. “Absolutely. It’s fundamental to what I’m learning.”
Kwad Dawgs became a club last April, and a drone flight over the sports field is on YouTube. Clubs are organized through the UW Bothell office of Student Engagement and Activities. “There was a lot of interest in the club before we did any outreach,” says Harman. (Want to start you own student club? Learn how to join or start a club.)
Kwad Dawgs is seeking funds for more quads from the club council and plans to apply for a grant from the student technology fee committee to buy and build more drones. The sunny start to fall quarter was a great day to talk about flying and the opportunities ahead in the school year. About 90 clubs and organizations reached out to passing students at the Activites and Resource Fair organized by Dan Scheuler, assistant director of orientation programs. "The lifeblood is back,” said Scheuler. “You can walk around and feel the energy."
Onstot, who transferred from Cascadia College, says he loves UW Bothell because of its size. “It's very focused. I get everything I need here."
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The 2017 UW Bothell Student Activities Fair (Marc Studer photos)
