Shelton Robotics Team Takes Title

The Shelton High School Robotics team was recently recognized as the Tournament Champions at the first ever Groton NE FIRST Robotics District Competition held at Fitch High School on March 8 – 9.

SHS Robotics Team #230 The Gaelhawks, partnered with teams #1991 the Dragons from Hartford and #1699 the Robocats from Colchester to take home the District Championship banner after two days of intense competition. The three-team alliance fought valiantly from their 7th seeded position to knock off both the #2 and #4 seeds to ultimately defeat the 5th seeded alliance in the finals.

The Groton NE FIRST Robotics District Competition featured 32 teams from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut who battled for two days at the Fitch Senior High School in Groton.

This year’s competition, ​“Aerial Assault,” requires teams to work together to score a large exercise ball into a goal with their remote controlled robots. Shelton’s robot ​“Talon XV” was built and operated by students from the SHS Robotics Team along with their mentors from Sikorsky, OEM Controls and UTC.

The Shelton Team was also awarded the Groton District Entrepreneurship Award for their comprehensive Business Plan which outlines their ongoing efforts to advance STEM-related learning activities and community outreach projects. A panel of judges interviewed team members about their plan and read through application essays to determine which team best exemplified the ideals of the FIRST organization.

The official FIRST description of the award reads: ​“Celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit by recognizing a team that has developed the framework for a comprehensive business plan to scope, manage, and achieve team objectives”

Sponsored by the Shelton Public School System and local technology companies Sikorsky, OEM Controls, Pitney Bowes, and Intuitive Surgical, the team is grateful for the continued support of their long-time sponsors.

Connecticut Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman spoke at the opening ceremonies of the competition and recognized the achievements of all of the students and mentors present for their ​“commitment to the future of Connecticut and our world”.

The team will now advance to the Southington District event on March 22 – 23 and the Hartford District event on March 28 – 29 where they will continue to qualify against other teams from the New England District before competing at the New England District Championship event on April 10 – 12 in Boston, MA. Winners from the Boston Championship will advance to the FRC World Championship held in St. Louis, MO on April 24 – 27.

All FIRST Robotics competition events are free admission to the public and details for the upcoming events can be found at: http://www.nefirst.org/

Anyone interested in sponsoring the team is asked to contact team advisor, John Niski at Shelton High School jniski@sheltonpublicschools.org for more information on how to help the team raise the nearly $10,000.00 needed for registration and travel expenses. The team is currently in its 16th year of operation and members include about 25 SHS students and volunteer adult mentors from Sikorsky, OEM Controls, Technology Service Corporation and other area technology companies. For more detailed information please check out the team website at www.shsrobotics.org