Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School Robotics Team impresses the world in St. Louis

Meet the Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School Robotics Team that travelled to St. Louis, Missouri to participate in the 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition World Championships from April 25th to 28th. Front row, from left, Alain Richard (Bestech), Dalton Milford, Ellen Arteca, Josh Storey, Shuhao Wu (Team Captain), Colin Roos, Kirk Lee and John Hick; Back row, from left, Pat Foran (teacher mentor), Cayden Cole, Edmund Noble, Amith Reddy, Tarak Patel, Zack Ireland, Cody Hartwick, Matteo Neville and Dan Monti (teacher mentor).

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School students Shuhao Wu, left, and Cayden Cole with Robot 4069 in action in St. Louis, Missouri.

Saturn is the mascot of the Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School Robotics Team.

The great news keeps on coming for the Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School FIRST Robotics Team and robot number 4069.

The team made the long trip to St. Louis, Missouri to take part in the 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition World Championships from April 25th to 28th.  Four hundred teams from around the world gathered to compete in four divisions. 

“The team continued its strong play throughout the qualifications tournament placing 20th out of 100 robots within its division,” says teacher Dan Monti. “The result gave 4069 the third highest rookie ranking within the division and left a lasting impression on the field.” 

While robot 4069 was not selected to compete in the elimination rounds, team members garnered kudos for their ability to play defense, balance their robot on a bridge, and score from long distances. 

Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School finished within the top 10 per cent of teams for bridge balancing points, played effective defense against top tier robots, and hit a half-court three pointer during match play while balanced on a bridge.

The team impressed judges in its quest for the Rookie All-Star World Award and was considered a strong candidate. The business team spent many hours crafting business plans, planning community outreach events, and securing community and industry support during the build season.  Additionally, the design team showcased its CAD design work, computer programming logic, and safety documentation to judges at the competition.

“Overall, the event was considered a success for Canada, as many Canadian teams received major awards and accolades at the competition,” says Monti. “The team already has its sights set on next year with plans to promote science and technology within Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School and the Greater Sudbury community.”

“Rainbow District School Board congratulates Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School for being among the best of the best internationally,” said Board Chair Doreen Dewar. “We commend the students, their teachers, their mentors and the star of the show – Robot 4069 – which is a tribute to their initiative and innovation.”

“We are proud of our students and their mentors for their outstanding showing on provincial and international levels,” said Principal Craig Runciman. “Under the leadership of teacher Dan Monti, they achieved impressive results in a very short period of time, demonstrating skill, knowledge, co-operation and creativity.”

In the FIRST competition, high school students team up with the world’s best technology companies to design, build and program impressive robots from scratch. They have six weeks to finish the task. The 5-foot tall, 120 pound robots perform prescribed tasks against each other, in high intensity robo-sports. The events combine the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology, exposing students to real-world engineering. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team. The competition is a showcase For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST).

In 2012-2013, the team will be encouraging schools to participate in the FIRST Lego League (FLL) competition for elementary students ages 9 to 14 within Rainbow Schools, mentoring a rookie FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) team during the 2013 season, and creating a partnership with Science North to promote robotics and science and technology.

Lo-Ellen Robotics FIRST Team 4069 would like to thank its sponsors and community members for a very successful 2012 season.  The team welcomes new gold sponsor SNC-Lavalin, silver sponsors Thales and Hard-Line Solutions, and bronze sponsors Sudbury Suomi Lions Club and Finlandia Retirement Village. They join Platinum Sponsor Hatch; Gold Sponsors FIRST, Xstrata, Laurentian Business Products and the Province of Ontario; Silver Sponsors Canadian Space Agency and Fastenal; and Bronze Sponsors Professional Engineers of Ontario, Laurentian University, the Canadian Institute of Mining and Ionic Engineering Limited.

The Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School Robotics Team includes students Nyle Anderson, Ellen Arteca, Cayden Cole, Sierra Gagnon, Cody Hartwick, John Hick, Zack Ireland, Kirk Lee, Dalton Milford, Matteo Neville, Edmund Noble, Evan Nurmikivi, Tarak Patel, Amith Reddy, Colin Roos, Jacob Smith, Joshua Storey, Emily Warner, Xavier Wong and Shuhao Wu (Team Captain); teacher mentors Giancarlo Chiarot, Pat Foran, Rob Gruhl, Fiona Lawrence and Dan Monti; and engineering mentors, Alain Richard of Bestech, Kayla Robin of Vale, Kay-Sea Taylor of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as well as Jason Jain, Brent Perry, Hinkel Yeung, Kelly Levesque and Paresh Shetty of Hatch.

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Media Contact:

Craig Runciman, Principal, Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School,

Rainbow District School Board, 705-522-2320.