The Alden Robotics Team, AKA “The CosmoBots” just finished their “competition season” with excellent results. The team refers to the competition season as a component of the year-long commitment the members demonstrate in order to achieve their level of success. The team competes through an organization called FIRST, an acronym representing For Inspiration and Recognition of Science And Technology. These words are much more closely aligned to the spirit and purpose of the team than simply referring to a Robotics Team or Club. This is significant because the value of participation on, and school support of, this team goes much beyond “Robotics”.

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The CosmoBots got up bright and early (4:00am on several Sundays) to travel to recent competitions and compete with their robot. They went to:

·        St. John Fisher College, Rochester – Regional Qualifier, 12/18/16

·        Corning – Painted Post High School – Regional Qualifier, 1/29/17

·        SUNY Polytechnical Institute – NYS Regional Championship, 2/12/17

Their robot performed pretty well. But, a big part of their advancement from Regionals to State Championships was earning the 1st place Motivate Award and 2nd place Connect Award. At the NYS Championships, they again earned the 1st place Motivate Award, and the 3rd place Connect Award.  Details of what it takes to win the awards are below.

Motivate Award

More than Robots! This judged award celebrates the team that exemplifies the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through team building, team spirit and exhibited enthusiasm. This team embraces the culture of FIRST and clearly demonstrates what it means to be a team. This is a team who makes a collective effort to make FIRST known throughout their school and community, and sparks others to embrace the culture of FIRST.

Connect Award

Connecting the dots between community, FIRST, and the diversity of the engineering world. This judged award is given to the team that most connects with their local STEM community. A true FIRST team is more than a sum of its parts, and recognizes that engaging their local STEM community plays an essential part in their success. The recipient of this award is recognized for helping the community understand FIRST, the FIRST Tech Challenge, and the team itself. The team that wins the Connect Award aggressively seeks engineers and explores the opportunities available in the world of engineering, science and technology. This team has a clear Business or Strategic Plan and has identified steps to achieve their goals.

Additional recognition was given to one of the team captains and the HS Robotics Club President, Sara Pasternack for her leadership and commitment to the FIRST philosophy. First announced she is one of the Dean’s Award Finalists (after founder Dean Kamen). The ultimate winner will be announced at World Championships in St. Louis, MO in late April.  Active participation in FIRST programs while in middle and high school often leads to significant college scholarships due to the technical and team works skills developed on the learning journey to compete.

This year’s team of Sara Pasternack, Kevin Mychajluk, Bryan Brown, Andrew Stewart, Matthew Tolsma, Eddie Williams, Kassie Gentile, Nick Sacilowski, and Jessica Wruck demonstrated outstanding dedication, team work , and perseverance this year. We all look forward to how they will impact our local Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math programs next year as they help develop relationships with industry partners and influence district curriculum.