The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) 2015-16 season officially got under way on Saturday (September 12), with more than 400 students from Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic region arriving at Capitol Technology University to pick up their kits and learn the details of the contest.
Gathering in the university’s Avrum Gudelsky Memorial Auditorium, participants watched a global simulcast announcing this year’s game, and heard presentations from FIRST regional director for Maryland Bill Duncan as well as Capitol’s senior director of admissions, George Walls.
They then received their kits. Teams will have about a month to build their robots, following the rules and guidelines presented on Saturday, before competition gets under way.
The FTC kickoff is one of two such events taking place at Capitol; the university also hosts the FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) launch in January.
Capitol and the FIRST organization have been partners for nearly fifteen years. According to Walls, it’s a natural fit.
“When we look at the pool of students who are an excellent fit for Capitol, the largest percentage come from FIRST,” he said. “The kickoff events give us an opportunity to meet these high-capability students, many of whom are passionate about engineering and technology, and give them an opportunity to get to know our school and see our facilities and resources.”
"Every one of the programs we offer at Capitol is represented in some way among the various roles on a FIRST team, whether building, computer and systems engineering 
and programming, or project management and fundraising. It’s all there,” Walls said. “These students come out with some hands-on skill sets and knowledge of particular fields in STEM that they tend to take to their college majors.”
Duncan, the regional director, noted that Capitol supports FIRST not only by hosting the kickoff events and workshop, but by providing scholarships – starting at $20,000 – for students who have participated in FTC or FRC.
“Capitol has been a fabulous friend and supporter of the FIRST programs, and a top scholarship provider,” Duncan said. “We have more than 400 participants here today, kicking off our season for FIRST Tech Challenge – these are some of our top students from all around Maryland. We’re so happy to be here, and happy for the co-operation and collaboration with Capitol.”
Three-time competitors Cubix3, from Carroll County, made it to the FTC world championship last year. The team hopes to build on that success while also helping teach new teams the basics of robot design.
Coming up with ideas and then making something out of them is “just so much fun,” says team member Reagan Roberts. “What’s even more fun is having a team that’s together all the time – we love each other!”
Teammate Kaitlyn Davie, who is graduating this year, says she hopes to pass along what she’s learned to younger participants. Among other aspects of FTC, she says she enjoys strategy, on-the-field play and the excitement of competition. “It’s like a sports game, but with robots on the field,” she said.
Payton Stoneberger is a member of Green Machine, representing the Howard County 4-H Organization. He says he anticipates learning new programming skills while interacting with others and working together to design and carry out a project.
“I hope to learn a lot from this experience and have a good time while doing it,” he said.
Photos: 1) Dan Barvenik (left) and son John Barvenik, from the team Mechanical Paradox, demonstrate a prototype. 2) Cubix3 members Reagan Roberts (right) and Kaitlyn Davie (left), with mentor Cynthia Davie, 3) Green Machine member Payton Stoneberger.