FIRST Looks (Audio)

As the students continue along their journey in FIRST Robotics, they tend to move into leadership and mentoring roles. Erin Piacitelli, President of Middleton Robotics Club, is no exception. Erin has been coming to ROBOTICON Tampa Bay for years with her school's teams and she agrees that it's a great event to practice, train new team members and have a lot of fun.

Middleton High School is a STEM Magnet School in Tampa, Florida that places an emphasis on robotics in a really wonderful way. It's not just a club, the kids also have robotics classes as part their curriculum. They take their teams and competitions very seriously. Middleton's Robotics Club currently has 1 FIRST Robotics Competition Team, 2 FIRST Tech Challenge Teams and 1 VEX Robotics Team. The students are able to participate in any aspect of the process that they would like and all the teams are there for each other to help brainstorm and mentor. They even mentor middle school students and invite them to join in on the development and brainstorming sessions to help them get involved and know the process when they get to high school.

Their structure is quite impressive. It's a collaborative effort that has strengthened over the years with a tiered leadership approach. The club itself has captains and vice presidents, comprised of students, with specialized roles. Then each individual team has a coach and at least one adult mentor.

Get some inside info on the best aspects of being involved with Roboticon Tampa Bay and FIRST from a few members of our FIRST Looks team. Jacob, Marissa and Scott share some of their favorite stories and their love of robotics during a quick break in the day's interviews.

Don't miss an opportunity to learn more about ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. You an check out all the fun by clicking here.

Learn more about FIRST and all it has to offer by visiting their

website.

You can also learn more about our team, watch more interviews and check out our other special events as well as product & game reviews by visiting PLuGHiTzLive.com.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

The energy at a robotics tournament is almost unexplainable. It is truly electric. At first glance, a new observer may see a bunch of shy and serious kids busily scurrying around while working on various tasks for their teams. Some are repairing parts on the robots, some are going through inspections or helping set up the game field, while others are strategizing with members of other teams. Many of them are dressed in some type of costume. A first timer may think, wow this is different, as they enter this unique little world. And then the competitions begin and as the robots, that the kids work so hard to build, achieve the most difficult task, the crowd roars louder and with more enthusiasm than you even see at a high school basketball game. And when your kid, actual or mentee, learned to build and code and problem solve to create those cheers... you're hooked.

This is exactly what happened to Kalai Sankar when she first encountered this world. She was immediately FIRST's biggest fan. She then took her computer science degree and her passion for teaching Indian dance to children and combined those talents with her new love of robotics. She started off as a coach for one team and her passion soon grew to what is now the Shiva Robotics Academy, which is housed in a 3400 square foot facility in Jacksonville, Florida. They offer numerous camps and outreach programs with the simple mission of introducing robotics to as many students as possible.

This is the academy's fourth year attending ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. It's one of Kalai's favorite events as she feels it is well run and gives her students the opportunity to learn more about robotics and see all of the levels of FIRST at one great event.

Witnessing Kalai's love for FIRST Robotics is truly inspiring. To learn more about programs that the academy offers, visit their website.

One of the best things about FIRST is their amazing alumni. Which is why were were excited to get the chance to speak with Eric Chan, FIRST Alumni and President of the Purple Fire Robotics Club at Florida Polytechnic University.

Eric and his teammates were in attendance at 2017 ROBOTICON Tampa Bay for a couple of really great reasons. First, to show off and scrimmage the robot that the club built in the FIRST Tech Challenge Alumni Robot In One Weekend Challenge. They also came to volunteer at the event and for FIRST Outreach.

Although Florida Poly is a new university, only four years old, they've had an incredible turnout for Purple Fire Robotics with 70 new students to the club this year alone. The club members include many FIRST and VEX Alumni, as well as students who were not previously a part of a formal robotics team. The club builds robots and participates in various competitions and they also build custom items for other clubs at their school. They are currently working on the animatronics for a haunted house that is being built on campus this year.

You can get more information about the club on their website and follow them on Twitter.

We are always inspired when we speak with students who take full advantage of all that FIRST has to offer. This was definitely the case with Briana McMurchie, who is a student at Middleton High School, a STEM Magnet school located in Tampa, FL. Brianna is a member and sub team lead for fabrication and chairman's award on FIRST Robotics Competition Team #1369 Minotaur.

This is Briana's second year coming to ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. She enjoys this event because it's a great place to teach new team members the ins and outs of FIRST Robotics and it's a great place to practice and compete without all of the pressure of an actual tournament. It's also great to get all of the FIRST Programs (FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech Challenge, FIRST LEGO League, FIRST LEGO League Jr.) together in one place. Another aspect that she enjoys are the numerous volunteer opportunities.

Briana is very involved with her FIRST Robotics Competition team, and is also a big part of the outreach that her school supports, such as camps and robotics education. It was through a summer camp this year that she was able to introduce FIRST LEGO League to an elementary school nearby and, through that, started her own FIRST LEGO League team with these students.

To find out more about FIRST Programs, please visit their website.

It was so great to kick off our 2017 ROBOTICON Tampa Bay coverage with the wonderful and enthusiastic Stacey Jones, Regional Partner for South Florida FIRST LEGO League Jr. and FIRST LEGO League. This is her second year in her current role, but she wears many hats as she is also a Mentor for FIRST Robotics Competition Team SPAM #180.

Spend just a few minutes with Stacey or watch her out with the kids and you can't help but get excited about these awesome FIRST programs. Stacey's "all-in" approach gets the kids and families motivated to learn and problem solve through the creative, interactive play that FIRST encompasses.

One of the things that Stacey enjoys most is the teamwork and partnership with the other directors all over Florida. Together they are working towards making Florida the #1 FIRST LEGO League group in the U.S., with an impressive goal of 600 teams this year. She loves watching the kids come up with problems and their solutions through the FIRST Games, which this year involves the Human Water Cycle. She is always amazed with how bright the kids are and enjoys seeing them come up with such creative solutions, some of which actually get Patents.

After watching Stacey's interview, check out how easy it is to start your own FIRST LEGO League Chapter by visiting their website. It's as easy as getting a LEGO EV, then it's only $225 to register a new team and $75 to get a challenge kit. There's really no better way to get kids involved with something so fun and educational.

Whether it be FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST Tech Challenge or FIRST LEGO League, official competitions can be stressful. There's on-field performance, team scouting and judging, and all of that comes at the cost of teaching drivers and coaches the intricacies of the field. That is where the benefits of an off-season event come in. At an event like ROBOTICON Tampa Bay, teams don't need to worry about any of the additional aspects of a competition. Many teams use off-season events to teach new drivers and coaches without concern for performance.

This year, the FIRST Looks team got to speak with members of the local FIRST LEGO League programming team, global FIRST Tech Challenge team, program sponsors and teams from FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition around the state of Florida.

Daniele is a student at Florida Polytechnic University who is studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. In High School, she was introduced to the science and technology world through the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a robotics foundation where students of varying ages can compete through tasks that their robots perform. With help from mentors she met through FIRST, she became interested in programming and developing. Today, Daniele is a special events host for F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and PLuGHiTz Live Special Events and a co-host for both The New Product Launchpad and FIRST Looks.

FIRST competitions are complicated, multi-faceted events. Because of that, multiple broadcasts are possible from the same event. While we spend time highlighting team members, coaches, mentors, staff and sponsors, RoboVisionOD and The RoboShow focus more on the matches themselves. Dan Swando spoke with us about the net work and program and how they work in the community.

RoboVisionOD maintains a focus on broadcasting and publishing individual matches through YouTube, while The RoboShow features SportsCenter-style coverage of the elimination rounds of competition. These platforms allow people outside of Orlando to feel like they are at the competition. This is great for kids whose friends and family live out of town, as well as teams that are competing later in the season at another competition to get an idea of what other teams are working on. Both of these services are offered, just like FIRST events in person, for free online.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Daniele is a student at Florida Polytechnic University who is studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. In High School, she was introduced to the science and technology world through the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a robotics foundation where students of varying ages can compete through tasks that their robots perform. With help from mentors she met through FIRST, she became interested in programming and developing. Today, Daniele is a special events host for F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and PLuGHiTz Live Special Events and a co-host for both The New Product Launchpad and FIRST Looks.

The team at PLuGHiTz Live is very proud of FIRST Looks. Since its inception, even before its name, we have worked hard to bring awareness to the FIRST brand. This series was inspired by one person, Terri Willingham, Regional Director for FIRST in Central Florida. She has been our representative at FIRST for years and, more importantly, a great friend.

FIRST STEAMWORKS is her last season with the organization and we will definitely miss her. We do, however, look forward to working with her on her new project, of bringing a robotics center to the Tampa Bay area. She and the Eureka! Factory are currently working with a few local organizations on finding a location for a permanent FIRST Robotics Competition field, two FIRST Tech Challenge fields and FIRST LEGO League setups as well. This will also help to bring brand recognition and student participation within the Tampa Bay market.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Daniele is a student at Florida Polytechnic University who is studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. In High School, she was introduced to the science and technology world through the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a robotics foundation where students of varying ages can compete through tasks that their robots perform. With help from mentors she met through FIRST, she became interested in programming and developing. Today, Daniele is a special events host for F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and PLuGHiTz Live Special Events and a co-host for both The New Product Launchpad and FIRST Looks.

Not everyone at a FIRST competition is involved with a team. Some come to see how they, or their companies, can get involved with the organization. Some want to be sponsors, some want to be mentors and some see their companies as the next step after FIRST.

Greg Serio, who founded The People of Manufacturing, sees himself in a couple of these roles. His organization focuses on adult education in the manufacturing space, including matching apprentices with professionals in their field of interest. Greg discusses how FIRST students, after graduating, could find themselves additional on-the-job training in manufacturing and fabrication through this company. He also talks about his initial impressions of the event and his interests for the future.

Scott is a developer who has worked on projects of varying sizes, including all of the PLUGHITZ Corporation properties. He is also known in the gaming world for his time supporting the rhythm game community, through DDRLover and hosting tournaments throughout the Tampa Bay Area. Currently, when he is not working on software projects or hosting F5 Live: Refreshing Technology, Scott can often be found returning to his high school days working with the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), mentoring teams and helping with ROBOTICON Tampa Bay. He has also helped found a student software learning group, the ASCII Warriors, currently housed at AMRoC Fab Lab.

Daniele is a student at Florida Polytechnic University who is studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. In High School, she was introduced to the science and technology world through the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a robotics foundation where students of varying ages can compete through tasks that their robots perform. With help from mentors she met through FIRST, she became interested in programming and developing. Today, Daniele is a special events host for F5 Live: Refreshing Technology and PLuGHiTz Live Special Events and a co-host for both The New Product Launchpad and FIRST Looks.