By David Fleet
Editor
Goodrich — Just to qualify, FIRST Robotics teams in 59 countries competed in a full winter season of difficult competition and finished in the top tier of squads in regional and statewide battles.
On April 19-22, the fierce team competition which included 621 student robotics teams converged at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston for the FIRST Robotics World Championship.
Among the Texas-bound teams were Goodrich Team 70-The More Martians and team 494 The Martians for the two events to take on hundreds of teams from around the world to prove their mettle.
“This was another good year for robotics at Goodrich High School,” said Jay Tenbrink, lead mentor. “The students worked hard and drove exceptionally well.”
Team 494 seeded ninth in the Newton division and finished as semi-finalists in the playoffs. Team 70 seeded 19th in the Archimedes division. The Goodrich Martians were world champions in 2004.
“The robots were well built and ran strong,” said Tenbrink. “We are blessed to have a talented and committed core of mentors and parents that work closely with the students to design, build, and program the robots. This hard work paid off when we earned the invitation to compete in the Championship in Houston.”
In the upcoming weeks and months, the team will focus on recruiting, training, and making additional improvements as they prepare for the Kettering Kick Off in September. Students with an interest in STEM or robotics are encouraged to contact the team through Goodrich High School.