Four Capital High School students with dads who work on Joint Base Lewis-McChord compete next week in St. Louis, Missouri, as part of a 26-person team headed to the FIRST Championship, a world competition in robotics featuring participants from 39 countries.
Mark Burrell, Tristan Cellucci, Felicia Jurgens and Alex Fallot, helped their team earn a coveted spot at one of the grand daddies of STEM competitions.
FIRST, an acronym meaning For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, has invited 900 teams representing 20,000 elementary to high school students from across the globe to compete with their robots head to head. To get there, the Olympia Robotics Federation FIRST Robotics Team 4450, comprised of students from Capital, Olympia and Avanti high schools, had to earn enough points in various competitions to get one of 32 slots from the Pacific Northwest for the worlds.
Olympia's team went into the Pacific Northwest District Championship in Portland earlier this month seeded number one among high school competitors in the region. They were knocked out in the quarters on a penalty; however, they earned enough points throughout the season to still advance to St. Louis. The team travels next week now ranked 15 out of 158 teams in the PNW.
Understanding all the intricacies of robotics and the competition nearly requires a flow chart, but basically, the Olympia area team built a robot from scratch in January named USS Kelvin. Kelvin looks like a box on wheels with various metal arms. In a competition, Kelvin must negotiate obstacles, throw things, and do a chin-up of sorts. Points are awarded based on the complexity and uniqueness of accomplishing those tasks.
During interviews Monday in the team's portable lab behind Capital High School, I was told to "live long and prosper" not once, but three times. These students not only take engineering seriously, they have spirit products, and an appreciation for the "space age" nature of what they do.
Team members are divided into various sub-specialites including engineering, finance, fundraising, manufacturing and more.
Tristan, son of CW2 Michael Cellucci from JBLM, has been involved with robots since middle school in Germany.
"This is something I see as a hobby," he said. He is a utility player on the team, plus he makes little black bean bag-like toys called Tribbles that the team uses for spirit and morale.
Felicia, whose dad works for General Dynamics on JBLM, is also interested in robots as a hobby. She is also a scout at the competitions. Using an app she and the team designed, she measures and records other robots in the competition to bring back new ideas to her team.
Alex, son of Col. Andre Fallot, chief of the pediatric intensive care unit at Madigan Army Medical Center, enjoys the opportunities to travel and compete. He is an accountant on the team, and he hopes to use those skills in the future.
Mark, whose dad works in logistics on the base, serves on the program team where he writes code to make the robot function as planned.
"I started out in the eighth grade in the LEGO League, and I just couldn't stop being involved in robots once I started," Mark, a Junior, said. "I get so involved, I don't know where the years went."
The Olympia team has many resources as part of the program including area businesses that provide technology and certain manufacturing services, mentors and supplies.
"I'd love to have had access to what these students have here when I was in high school," said Peter Cook, a retired M.I.T. trained engineer who now serves as the team's lead mentor.
To reach St. Louis, the team must fund 26 team members and advisors all on short notice. The public is encouraged to make a tax deductible donation by going online to stempals.org/stem-programs/robotics/volunteer-or-donate/make-a-donation-2/?need=FRC+Team+4450, or to attend their fundraiser at Applebee's in Olympia from 8-10 a.m., April 23, 2500 Capital Mall Dr.