An exciting FIRST: Lynn students unite for robotics competition

It may have been the first day of vacation week—and a snowy one at that—but that didn’t stop almost a dozen students from gathering at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute to put the finishing touches on their robotic creations.

The students, representing Lynn Tech, St. Mary’s High School and Lynn Classical High School, are competing as team 1761 in the FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition this spring. They will join nearly 70,000 high-school students on more than 2,700 teams in 92 cities around the globe.

Each January, FIRST teams receive new game details and have just six weeks to prepare for competition. For this year’s challenge, announced Jan. 4, the deadline to finish brainstorming, designing, prototyping, building and testing was Feb. 18. When the teams face off with their robots, they will try to score as many balls as possible in goals during a two-minute and 30-second match.

“This year’s game is a lot more about working with alliances, and I think we’ve stepped up to the challenge,” said team captain Victoria Davis, a senior at Lynn Tech.

Davis has been on the team for four years and has served as captain for the past two. She hopes pursue engineering and become a robotics and fire-protection engineer.

“So much goes into the process of building one of these robots,” said Davis. “It’s shown me I can do anything.”

FIRST team 1761—dubbed the Steam Punk Tigers—has been hard at work every day after school and on Saturdays to prepare for this year’s events. The students will compete at district events at the University of New Hampshire and Northeastern University the weekends of March 6-7 and March 28-29. They will join 37 other teams at UNH and 39 teams at Northeastern. If they qualify, they will move on to the New England District Championship at Boston University, and possibly the FIRST Championship in St. Louis.

New to the game in 2006, the Lynn team has shone throughout the years. They performed well in regional events their first year in the areas of technical skill, presentation and respect. Named Rookie All-Stars, the team was invited to the FIRSTChampionship in Atlanta, finishing 12th out of 86 teams. In 2009 and 2010, they were presented with awards for Gracious Professionalism®, a term that is part of the ethos of FIRST. It is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. In 2012, mentor Paul Woodley was presented with the Woodie Flowers Award, which recognizes an individual who has done an outstanding job of motivation through communication. Last year they were named the champions of Beantown Blitz, an off-season event.

This year, Lynn Tech formed a partnership with St. Mary’s for the first time and nearly half of the team is made up of St. Mary’s students. Sam Lipscomb, the school’s director of communications, and math and STEM teacher Dominick Steadman are serving as advisors. St. Mary’s, which expanded its STEM programming this year and held its first STEM summer program in August, expects the interest in robotics to grow. Through Project Lead the Way, the school is offering two new courses for students in grades 6-8: Design & Modeling and Automation & Robotics, taught by Steadman.

Hannah McCormack, a senior at St. Mary’s, was thrilled by the opportunity to participate in FIRST this year.

“I’ve always been interested in robotics so I couldn’t believe it when I found out we could join this team,” said McCormack, who hopes to pursue a degree and career in electrical engineering. “I’m really excited to get to the competition and see how the robots do, and to see how we all came up with different models to meet the same challenge.”

“It’s a nice relationship we have, partnering with St. Mary’s and bringing in new students who have been working so hard,” said Mike McHugh, Lynn Tech electronics teacher and a team advisor. “The proximity of the two schools makes it ideal.”

In addition to Lipscomb and Steadman, McHugh is joined by Lynn Tech teachers Mike Pickering and Kevin Ankiewicz in advising the team. Team mentors include Paul Woodley, a former U.S. Navy and General Electric (GE) power engineer; Dan Hegarty, Lynn Tech Class of 2012; and GE volunteers Dan Cornelius, Ethan Heller and Kyle Henry. The involvement of the GE engineers is a critical component of the program, encouraging students to pursue the challenge, while mentoring them with regard to future career paths. 

“This program really introduces the kids to the real-life tools and solutions when you’re building something,” said Woodley. “The biggest thing is for them to witness all the pieces coming together—seeing the progression from a concept to a working item, and then seeing that item being used and refined.”

Lynn Classical freshman Skyla Repecko is most excited about seeing the results of their labor and fine-tuning when it is game time. 

“Through this process, you come to understand that everything won’t go as planned and you have to change things along the way to make it work,” said Repecko, who is one of two Lynn Classical members on the team. She hopes to one day pursue a career in robot surgery.

Founded 25 years ago, FIRST has been succeeding remarkably in its mission to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. The organization is supported by a network of more than 3,500 sponsors, including corporations, educational and professional institutions and individuals.