Sponsor the FIRST FRC Team 3161 – The Tronic Titans from Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Oakville, Ontario!

Over the past couple of years, I have been fortunate enough to mentor an enthusiastic and highly motivated high school robotics team, FIRST FRC Team 3161 – The Tronic Titans from Holy Trinity Catholic Secondary School in Oakville, Ontario. After recently completing our second successful season, we are already preparing for the next year, striving for even more success, and we could use your help!

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization that engages youth in mentor-based programs to develop their science, engineering and technological skills. One such program is the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), which pits teams of high school students and their mentors to build robots to play an annual game challenge. Teams must prototype, design, build, program and test their robot in just six weeks before they go on to compete in regional events to vie for a spot in the World Championships.

Students are exposed to mechanical, electrical and pneumatic systems, as well as software programming and CAD modeling (we use SolidWorks). While the students develop numerous technical, problem solving, teamwork and leadership skills during the design and manufacturing of the robot, many are also involved with the marketing, community outreach, fundraising and business aspects of running a FIRST team. This creates very knowledgeable and interdisciplinary students.

The annual competition engages more than 51,875 high school students on 2,075 teams in regional competitions in 11 countries, including Canada, the U.S., Israel, Germany, Australia and Brazil.

Although it’s not quite BattleBots, the events are always a spectacle to watch. This year’s challenge involves hanging tubes on pegs in the form of the FIRST logo to score points. At the end of each match, the robots deploy a separate “mini-bot” which climbs a pole and races to the top to receive bonus points.

3161 scoring in the 2011 game - “LogoMotion” at the Hersey Centre (Apr. 1, 2011)

Help us inspire the future of tomorrow! We are currently looking for mentors and/or sponsorships to help propel the team to a higher level. Mentors are needed to give these dedicated students guidance and support as well as share their knowledge. Our team is multidisciplinary in function, so non-engineering mentors are always welcome. FIRST Robotics is a very fulfilling and rewarding experience, which will help shape the future of these bright students.

This team is only made possible through the help of our sponsors and mentors, without whom we would not be able to continue to compete. If you or your company is interested in helping us or receiving more information, contact us at [email protected]. Alternatively, if you want to get involved in the program, but are not near Oakville, contact us and we’ll try to point you towards a team in your area. We look forward to hearing from you and forming new, long lasting partnerships.

For more information, you may also visit:

http://www.htrobotics.ca/ –3161 Team website

www.firstroboticscanada.org – FIRST Canada

www.usfirst.org – FIRST website