Congratulations to the 56 Teams from California, Hawaii, Arizon and Chile PLUS all the Mentors, Volunteers, Sponsors, Friends and Family members who participated in the Los Angeles FIRST Robotics Regional from March 20-23, 2019!
ADVANCING TO CHAMPIONSHIPS IN HOUSTON!!!
The following teams and individuals earned top honors at the Sacramento Regional and earned their way to compete at the FIRST Championships in Houston in April.
Regional Chairman’s Award
Team 1515, MorTorq from Beverly Hills, CA
The Chairman’s Award represents the true spirit of FIRST. It honors the team that best serves as a model for other teams to emulate and that embodies the goals of FIRST. It remains FIRST’s most prestigious team award. The Chairman’s Award is presented to the team judged to have the most significant measurable impact of its partnerships among its participants, school, and community over a sustained period, not just a single build season or school year. The winner is able to demonstrate progress towards FIRST’s mission of transforming our culture. The recipient will be invited to the FIRST Championship where it will compete for the Chairman’s Award against the winners from all the other qualifying events.
What the judges had to say …
“This year’s recipient strives to enrich their students with the knowledge of robotics and nurture their members as future leaders of society by creating a launch pad for their success. As an active participant in FIRST for over 13 years, this team embodies FIRST’s mission by spreading their love of STEM beyond robotics in order to foster a multi-generational change. The team motivates members to create their own events, plan meetings, and develop vital leadership skills. They have developed applications for FRC teams to efficiently organize tasks, manage files chat with members, aid in scouting, map teams around the globe, and help track their inventory of parts. This team impressed the judges with their Developer Evangelism, Qualitative Focus and introduction of ‘Women in STEM’ speaker series. They are MORE than a team, they are ‘MorTorq’.“
Engineering Inspiration
Team 5512, Pizza Mecanica from Santiago, Chile
The Engineering Inspiration Award celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community. This team will advance to the Championships and receive a $5000 NASA grant toward registration.
What the judges had to say …
“This team has helped lead a regional culture shift toward inclusion of diverse team members in STEM activities and exposure to the FIRST philosophy, especially in underserved communities. Based on significant growth over the past year, they have been recognized by national government agencies leading to increased visibility of FIRST, locally, and regionally. Their efforts to channel the message of FIRST through teacher engagement will allow this message to thrive and grow for years to come. The passion, dedication and commitment to their community programs in robotics are a true inspiration to us all. For having demonstrated the core values and philosophy of FIRST in such a “flavorful” way, we recognize PIZZA MECÁNICA.“
Regional Winners
Team 5199, Robot Dolphins from Outerspace from San Juan Capistrano
Team 330, Beach Bots from Hermosa Beach, CA
Team 2710, JetStream from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Rookie All-Star Award
Team 7871, South Gate High School Robotics from South Gate, CA
This award celebrates a 1st year team demonstrating an early but strong partnership effort, implementing the mission of FIRST. Its winner understands what FIRST is really trying to accomplish and realizes that technical work is fun and challenging, made better by building a partnership among team, community and school. This is not an easy challenge for a rookie team but the judges want to recognize and reward one team that got it right.
What the judges had to say …
“When embarking on this journey, this team discovered a lot. Through partnerships with the team’s school, faculty, city, and other FRC teams, this rookie team launched a successful first season. With continued fundraising efforts, this team has built a strong foundation. We’re excited to recognize this team that came strong out the GATES.”
Regional Finalists
(Advancing to Championships because of 2 Wild Cards)
Team 4415, Epic Robotz from Cerritos, CA
Team 2375, Dragon Robotics from Phoenix, AZ
Dean’s List Finalist
FIRST Dean’s List Finalist – Shyla Summers from Team 589
What the judges had to say …
“This Dean’s List finalist has been a long-time FIRST participant, and truly represents the best of FIRST through strong leadership, outreach activities, and technical contributions to the team.”
FIRST Dean’s List Finalist – Josef Kirkman from Team 687
What the judges had to say …
“This Dean’s List finalist is a dedicated and hard-working team member. With strong technical and leadership skills, this individual motivates other team members and constantly promotes FIRST.”
In an effort to recognize the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding FRC students, the Kamen family sponsors an award for selected top students known as the FIRST Dean’s List.
This award celebrates a student’s outstanding leadership and effectiveness in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering and engineers, both within their school, as well as their community. FIRST Dean’s List Finalists will compete at the championship for the FIRST Dean’s List.
Woodie Flowers Finalist Award
Shane Palmerino from Team 330, Beach Bots
Additional Awards
Congratulations to the Teams and individuals that earned the remaining awards at the Los Angeles Regional! See the list here.
Press
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
High Schoolers Compete for Robotics Glory
AZFamily.com
Phoenix high school robotics team hopes to earn money for big competition
Support
An immense THANK YOU to all the Sponsors who contributed to this very successful Regional with funding, mentors, volunteers and enthusiasm! Regional Sponsors include Raytheon, Marathon, Roddenberry Foundation, Boeing, PWC, Southern California Edison, Walt Disney Imagineering, The Kenneth T and Eileen L Norrris Foundation, SpaceX, Boston Scientific, GoGuardian, Vigrin Orbit, Aerojet Rocketdyne Foundation, Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Petty, Gerald Oppenheimer Family Foundation, The Habiby Family, Sue Baumgarten and David Totheroh, Bancroft-Clair Foundation and the Armand Hammer Foundation.
We hope you too had a memorable experience at the Los Angeles Regional. We’d love to hear your stories. Please consider sharing them with us here in the comments below or on our facebook page. Photo and video links welcome!
*Blog cover photo credit goes to Team 1323