Local robotics teams advance to FIRST World Championship
EWING » Three powerhouse robotics teams from Mercer County are competing in the FIRST World Championship in Detroit later this month.
Over 400 high school squads, including the Mighty Monkey Wrenches of Ewing, team Nemesis of Robbinsville and West Windsor-Plainsboro’s MidKnight Inventors, will engage in a battle of science and engineering in the Motor City from April 25 through April 28.
Any FRC or FIRST Robotics Competition team that advances to the world championship had to perform well in smaller regional competitions to qualify for the international event.
The Mighty Monkey Wrenches of Ewing, also known as FRC Team 2016, is composed of students from Ewing High School and New Jersey’s Katzenbach School for the Deaf. Founded in 2007, the Mighty Monkey Wrenches have progressively improved over the years, qualifying for the 2018 world championship after emerging victorious at the FIRST Mid-Atlantic District Championship in Pennsylvania earlier this month.
Robbinsville’s Nemesis, also known as FRC Team 2590, is an award-winning FIRST Robotics team based out of Robbinsville High School that also emerged High school robotics students from Ewing (top left), Robbinsville (top right) and West Windsor-Plainsboro (bottom) will compete in the 2018 FIRST World Championship in Detroit.
victorious at the 2018 MidAtlantic District Championship. “Founded in 2008, the students in Nemesis routinely solve challenges in business, computer science, engineering, and math,” the team says on its website.
West Windsor-Plainsboro’s MidKnight Inventors, also known as FRC Team 1923, was founded in the fall of 2005 at WW-P North in Middlesex County but expanded in 2009 to include students from WW-P
South in Mercer County. The WW-P Robotics squad performed well in regional competition this year to get a chance to compete on the world stage.
FIRST is an acronym For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. The FIRST organization is a New Hampshire-based nonprofit founded in 1989 to “inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.”
The 2018 FIRST World Championship at the Cobo Center in Detroit will feature teams from the United States, Canada and Taiwan. Ewing Public Schools refers to the event as the “Super Bowl” of robotics. Overall, 15 teams from New Jersey will be competing at the global showdown.
“I am so proud of our students and very appreciative of the work of our parents, mentors and sponsors,” Ewing High School science teacher and Mighty Monkey Wrenches team advisor Matthew Sisk said in a statement. “An accomplishment like this does not happen by accident, and we are fortunate to have so many great partners. From the Katzenbach School to our longtime sponsor Johnson and Johnson to our many parents and community benefactors, we are thankful for the efforts of all involved with Team 2016.”
Ewing High Principal Edward Chmiel also acknowledged the significance of the school’s robotics team advancing to the world championship.
“At Ewing High School, our goal is to see students achieve in academics, the arts and athletics,” Chmiel said in a statement. “This tremendous achievement is another example of the great things the students of our school are doing each and every day.”
FRC or FIRST Robotics Competition teams each build and program a robot to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. The competitions are intended to promote teamwork and to encourage students to pursue education and careers in the STEM-related fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.