The Academy of the Holy Cross received a $6,000 grant from NASA to support the development of the “AHC Transformers,” robotics team. NASA “Program Growth” grants are offered to teams in their first two years of participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition. The grant will provide funding to purchase a full robot “kit of parts” and the registration fees for two competitions in March 2017.
To receive the grant, the team prepared a proposal that described the team and its goals. Details included how the team would acquire the resources needed to build a competitive robot for the FIRST Robotics Competition. The proposal included sections on: student and adult leadership; the level of support from the school’s administration; pursuit of corporate and community mentors; and, the planned acquisition of tools and infrastructure. The proposal also detailed how the Holy Cross robotics program would enhance the students’ ability to pursue STEM-related careers.
Brand new to the school this year, the AHC Transformers has over 20 student members who are meeting weekly to prepare for the 2017 FIRST Robotics Competition season. In October, the team participated in an off-season ILITE Robotics competition using a robot borrowed from Glenelg High School. Team members have also attended several technical workshops to prepare for a 6-week design-build session that starts in January 2017. The team is working hard to be ready, in its rookie year, to compete in the March events.
Members of the AHC Transformers robotics team at the October ILITE competition.