The MidKnight Inventors, also known as FIRST Robotics Team 1923, with students from High Schools North and South, received the Engineering Inspiration Award at the Mid-Atlantic Robotics district competition. The team will compete at the Mid-Atlantic Robotics regional competition in April. Student members include Aaron Weiss, Ayaz Ghesani, David Govorko, and Kelsey Stevens.
The mission of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is to inspire young people to become science and technology leaders by engaging them in mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, math, and technology skills that inspire innovation and foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. Robotics teams must meet a unique challenge each year by creating their own robot to compete with and against teams from around the world. For this year’s game, the MidKnight Inventors designed, built, and programmed a 120-pound robot to play basketball in a challenge called “Rebound Rumble.”
Sponsors of the team include WW-P Education Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Millennium, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, SRI International (Sarnoff), Lockheed Martin, MadisonMarquette, Novo Nordisk, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, MIMvista, and other companies, civic groups, and individuals.
Volunteer mentor engineers include Aveek Das, Dan Zaun, John Lacenere, Mike Mardenfeld, and Cassandra Pugh. Volunteer mentors from the pharmaceutical sector include Michael Stevens, Kathy Rogers, and Randy Slemmons; and the business world is represented by Mark Bean.
For more information visit www.FIRSTrobotics1923.org or E-mail the Team at info@FIRSTrobotics1923.org.
