Photo by Bob Cornigans
Photo by Bob Cornigans
Photo by Bob Cornigans
Photo by Bob Cornigans
Photo by Bob Cornigans
Photo by Bob Cornigans
Photo by Bob Cornigans
Photo by Bob Cornigans

Masters Succeeds in Hosting First-Ever Robotics Event

11/2/2018

Masters hosted its first-ever robotics event on Saturday, October 27. The FIRST Tech Challenge workshop and scrimmage event took place in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC).

"This is our inaugural season in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) league, and it is quite the coup to get to host as a rookie team," said John Chiodo, Director of Innovation, Engineering and Computer Science. "Hosting a workshop and scrimmage is an important step in being selected to host a tournament next season."

FIRST Tech Challenge teams, which consist of 10 or more students in grades 7 through 12, design, build, program and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format, according to the FIRST nonprofit organization.

A total of 11 teams and 49 individuals — two FTC coordinators, 11 adult coaches and volunteers, and 36 students — visited campus to participate in Masters' landmark event. The following schools and community groups were represented: EF Academy (Thornwood), Blind Brook (Rye Brook), Woodlands (Hartsdale), Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, The Montfort Academy (Mount Vernon), Roosevelt (Yonkers), Edgemont (Edgemont) and Team Segmentation Fault (Mount Kisco).

In addition, there were 15 members of Masters' robotics team present. They acted as hosts and presenters.

Masters offered a total of three workshops:

Engineering Design and Documentation Protocols by Louisa Chiodo '19 and Carly Grizzaffi '21
The Physics of Motor Performance by Upper School engineering teacher Sydney Kadiyala
Coding Holonomic Vehicle presented by Matt Nappo '21 and Zach Battleman '21

Dr. Richard Kline, the FIRST regional coordinator and a computer science professor at Pace University Seidenberg School of CSIS, was complimentary of the daylong event.

"Kline was very impressed by the expertise we demonstrated in our workshops, the logistics of the event, but most of all, the hospitality of Masters and its students," Chiodo said. "We have already begun discussing Masters hosting another workshop and a tournament next year."