Hillsborough KinetIQ Robotics Team Secures First Place in League Tournament

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The Hillsborough-based FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team KinetIQ (Team 31257) secured first place at the Central Conference Upper Central League Tournament.

This win earns the rookie team a spot at the New Jersey State Championship, which will be held locally at Hillsborough High School.

KinetIQ is a private community team composed of Hillsborough High School students. The team competed against other top robotics teams from the region.

KinetIQ demonstrated strong performance in robot design, programming, engineering, and match strategy, leading to their league championship victory.

The Upper Central League is recognized as one of the most competitive FTC leagues in New Jersey. By winning the league tournament, KinetIQ has advanced to the State Championship.

There, top teams from across New Jersey will compete for further advancement to the FTC world championship. The team also received the Connect Award for outstanding outreach, community engagement, and efforts to inspire others to explore STEM.

Team coaches and parent volunteers stated, "This achievement reflects the students’ dedication, teamwork, and countless hours of hard work throughout the season."

They added, "We are incredibly proud of their commitment to learning, innovation, and collaboration."

Team Captain Vihaan Mehta said, "Winning first place in the league tournament is the result of months of teamwork, perseverance, and learning from every challenge."

Mehta added, "We’re excited to compete at States and represent Hillsborough on our home field."

FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is an international STEM program. It challenges students to design, build, and program robots to compete in a fast-paced, alliance-based game. Participants gain hands-on experience in engineering, coding, problem-solving, and project management.

Competing at the State Championship in their hometown will give the team an opportunity to represent the Hillsborough community on a larger stage. It also aims to inspire other students to pursue STEM opportunities.