At University High School we have a robotics team. They compete in competitions with a given task they must complete. They do this by designing and building a robot to complete the given task.

The robotic team as a whole is split up into 4 sub-teams with different roles. There is build, design, electrical and programming, and corporate. Pacey Mahar ‘23 is the build leader, Nasere Lewin ‘23 is the corporate leader, Justin Surace ‘23 is the design leader, and Mannit Malhan ‘23 is the leader of electrical and programming. Each team works together to get a final result.

The design team designs the robot. For example, what it will look like, what parts are going to go where and more. The electrical and programming team are those who will put the electrical parts together but they also program those electrical parts to do their job. The build team puts these parts together and builds the robot. The corporate team works on getting grants and connections for the team to do well.

For the competitions this year our robotics team was tasked with picking up either cubes or 13” traffic cones and put them on either posts. The teams’ first match is coming up on March 10th.

Before a competition, a member or members of the team will go scout their competition to see what they’re up against. Our team will first compete in qualifying rounds to get to the playoffs.

For many of the members, being a part of the robotics team has taught them a lot and helped them in many ways.

Mahar said, “It’s been a good teaching opportunity and helped me make decisions with my life.”

Lewin said, “It reinforced me to stay in engineering.”

The robotics team is a good opportunity to learn and be challenged while having fun. You can learn new things, discover or rediscover the love for engineering. You could even figure out if engineering is the right path you want to take.

The team is still open to new members if students would like to join. If interested, students can talk to Surace, Mahar, Lewin, or Malhan.