Help Team Beta Make Their Big Move

Team Beta, Nonnewaug High School’s Champions of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, is moving over the summer and could use your help is setting up shop at their new location.

For the past seven years the FIRST Robotics team # 2836 has been grateful guests of Woodbury Middle School. The students and mentors have been holding meetings for shop training in the fall, designing and building the 120lb robot for the FIRST Robotics program January through February, competing in multiple events in March, April and June, and planning outreach and fundraising throughout the year.

They were fortunate to have the use of a Tech Ed classroom with computers, the cafeteria for floor space on which to test-drive the robot and accommodate large meetings, a large closet in which to pack away all their materials at the end of each evening, and, of course the Tech Ed Shop for construction.

“The shop will be the most difficult thing to reproduce in our new space,” said Mr. Doug Whyte, one of the team’s mentors. “We have our own hand tools, but the large metal and woodworking tools belong to the middle school and are not coming with us. We’ll have to acquire items to set up our own shop.”

The team is moving to the High School. “As much as the middle school was a great space, it will be good to be at Nonnewaug, in the building where our members go to school. It will be more convenient for our students and good for recruitment,” noted mentor Mrs. Laura Mathieson. “It’s more than about building robots and is not just for students interested in engineering. There are opportunities for students interested in business, art, marketing, finance… I’m hoping meeting at NHS will help get that message across to a broader range of students.”

Team Beta just ended one of their best years, coming out of the FIRST World Championships with the highest scoring robot in all of New England and finishing the qualification matches ninth highest out of 600 teams competing. Some of the team’s alumni spoke at a presentation to the Region 14 Board of Ed in June, in person and by video, crediting their experience on the team as having helped them enter challenging college programs and, for the founding students who have recently obtained their college degrees, land exciting jobs in their chosen fields. Former student members are now working for Apple, Amazon Robotics, General Motors, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.

The program’s proven value to the students of Region 14 is what keeps the volunteer mentors coming back to help the team year after year. “That, and because it’s a lot of fun!” according to Mr. Hogan Eng, mentor and FIRST volunteer for over 18 years. “We’re stretched a bit thin, though, we could use more adult mentors.”

The team could also use help in replacing the tools they will be losing with the move. The team raises all their own funding to cover everything including registration for competitions, tools and materials for the robot, and transportation to events. Having to set up a new shop was not in last year’s budget. The team will be in need of drill presses (floor or bench top), a vertical/horizontal band saw, a vertical band saw, a table saw, a chop saw, a belt sander, an industrial scale (there are strict rules on the weight of the robot for competition), a sheet metal machine (shear, break and roller), a metal welding table, and a grinding wheel, among other things. They are looking to set up as soon as possible to be able to train the students on the new equipment before this year’s robot challenge is announced. Students must pass a knowledge and safety test before they are allowed to work in the shop.

Anyone interested in donating funds or tools to the team, or becoming an official sponsor, can email info@friendsofteambeta.org for more information. Anyone interested in mentoring or helping out in other ways can email contact@teambeta.org. To learn more about the team visit www.teambeta.org. To learn more about FIRST (For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) visit www.usfirst.org.