Waterbury’s Haydon Kerk Motion SolutionsTM, a brand of AMETEK® Precision Motion Control, recently made a $1,500 FIRST Robotics sponsorship donation to the Shelton High School Team 230, the Gaelhawks.
The check was presented by Haydon Kerk’s Vice President of Operations, Paul DellaVecchia, to John Niski, Gaelhawks team adviser, and Henry Jiang, team member.
Haydon Kerk Motion Solutions believes in continually nurturing interest among young people in the sciences and engineering. The world is becoming ever more automated, leading to a greater need for scientists, engineers and technologists of all types. A perfect avenue for students interested in engineering is the FIRST® Robotics Competition.
Shelton High School Team 230, the Gaelhawks, had been participating in the annual FIRST® Robotics Competition since 1998 and has become known as a nationally-recognized award-winning team.
At the beginning of each competition season, the Gaelhawks begin work immediately after the FIRST® organization releases the rules of the game. The team splits into groups to develop their own strategies before reconvening to discuss the overall game plan.
The team then works on designing prototypes for meeting the game’s objectives. As team members experiment with help from mentors, the robot’s design slowly comes together. Once the robot is completed, the team selects several potential drive team members and allows them to practice before participating in various competitions around the country.
In addition to developing science and engineering knowledge, members of Team 230 also develop other well – rounded skills that will prove extremely valuable in the technical workforce including materials fabrication, programming, graphic arts, website design, public speaking, marketing and fundraising.
The Gaelhawks are also active participants in the community and work with local organizations including Relay for Life, Read Across America and FIRST® Lego League.
