FIRST Team 1305, The Near North Student Robotics Initiative, Ice Cubed, has once again qualified for the FIRST Robotics World Championships in St. Louis.
They are one of only a handful of teams worldwide to qualify for the World Championships every single year of their existence.
“We’re so grateful again for this opportunity – the FIRST competitions are always so inspiring and I’m so excited for the younger students on our team to experience it,” Jessica Kelso, 1305 Team Captain, said. “Four hundred of the best teams in the world are competing for the top titles.”
FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, was created by Coke Freestyle founder Dean Kamen in 1989 to inspire young people to pursue science and technology careers. This year’s game, FIRST Steamworks, challenges teams to build a 120 lb. robot in six weeks that delivers gears, shoots balls into goals, and climbs up a rope.
1305 competed this past weekend at the Ontario District Championships in Mississauga. They were chosen by the eighth alliance and played in the quarterfinals, before being beat by the alliance who eventually won the event. Jessica Kelso was recognized as a Dean’s List Finalist for the second time, and Britney Lebel was recognized as Safety Star of the day for the fifth time. Kelso will now compete against roughly 150 other Dean’s List Finalists for one of 10 Dean’s List Awards.
“FIRST is an incredible opportunity that develops high school students into science and technology leaders, and most alumni say it changes their life,” said Kelso. “Being a Dean’s List Finalist is such an honour – I couldn’t have done it without my team. We all work together to create a community where science and technology are celebrated.”
FIRST Ontario switched to a district system this year, allowing for each team to have at least two district events. Teams were awarded points based on their performance, with the top 64 Ontario teams qualifying for the FIRST Ontario Provincial Championship held April 12-15. 1305 competed at three district events, and gained several awards: Engineering Inspiration and Safety at the Durham District event, Safety at the Victoria Park District event, and the Chairman’s Award at the North Bay District Event. As well, 1305 were robot finalists at Victoria Park event and winners at the North Bay event.
Roughly the top 30 teams in Ontario qualified for the World Championships held April 26-29.