The Newton LigerBots excelled today at the FIRST Robotics Greater Boston Event at Revere High School, where the team advanced to the finals as part of the second alliance before being eliminated in the final match. The LigerBots ranked sixth out of 42 teams in regular competition play and also took home the event’s Engineering Inspiration Award. One of the team’s student leaders also moved forward as a finalist for the Dean’s List Award. (See photos.)
The LigerBots have now qualified for the New England District Championship at Boston University, April 13-14, based on their robot’s success on the Power Up playing field and garnering the Engineering Inspiration Award and Imagery awards at district-level events. The New England Championship, like all FRC events, is free and open to the public and will be live streamed. Everyone is invited to cheer with the team in the stands and be escorted by a LigerBot on a “pit tour” of all the competing FRC robots.
The Engineering Inspiration Award celebrates the team’s outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within its school and community. The judges said, “[The LigerBots exemplify] coopertition. With 30 outreach events this year alone, this team sets the standard for not only getting STEM into their local community, but worldwide. From science fairs to 3D printing, fixing school equipment to creating their own internal grant system, this team is truly an inspiration. On top of all that, this team taught us all how to be safe this year with their award-winning animation video.” The LigerBots will be eligible to compete for the next level of this award at the New England District Championship.
In addition to the team-wide awards, outstanding individual LigerBots have received several awards this season. At the Revere event, Newton North HS sophomore and LigerBots CMO Douglas was named a Dean’s List Award District Championship finalist. The Dean’s List Award celebrates outstanding student leaders with exemplary passion for and effectiveness at attaining FIRST ideals. He and Coach Igor, whose nomination for the Woodie Flowers Award was presented in March at the North Shore Event, will be considered for the same awards at the next level at the New England Championship.
If all goes well at the District Championship, the LigerBots will qualify for the FRC World Championship in Detroit, on April 25-28, and will then immediately need to raise significant money for the $5,000 competition fee and travel expenses. The LigerBots are supported solely by corporate sponsors and individual donors. If you’d like to help the team, you can donate online via Paypal or the LigerBots website, which also has information about donating by check.