Shelton robotics team heads to Atlanta tourney
Written by Patricia Villers, New Haven Register Staff on May 08, 2010
SHELTON — The Shelton High School robotics team, the Gaelhawks, will leave for Atlanta next week to compete in the national championships.Adviser John Niski said last month’s win at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Regional Robotics Competition in Worcester, Mass. qualified Shelton students to compete at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta April 14-18.
The team has 20 active members, he said.
The robot was built to score goals by “herding and kicking” game balls on a playing field that had a steep and varied terrain.
Led by captains Emily Spoldi and Ryan Roussel, both seniors, the Gaelhawks beat 28 schools from New England to take the top seed and the tournament championship at WPI.
The other Gaelhawks who competed included Aaron Egensteiner, Will Latino, Nick Mandrona, Ed McCann, LeeAnn Misencik, Jonathan Niedzwiecki, Jeffrey Quickel, Michael Rak, Peter Spoldi and Brian Welch.
The Gaelhawks were awarded the Rockwell Automation “Quality in Controls” award for robot design and construction. Shelton’s team is sponsored by United Technologies’ Corp. Sikorsky, Pitney Bowes, Intuitive Surgical, OEM Controls and the Board of Education.
Last weekend, the Gaelhawks participated at the Northeast Utilities’ Connecticut Regional Competition in Hartford. The Gaelhawks finished the qualification rounds seeded sixth out of 56 teams from New England, Indiana, and Brazil, Niski said.
The Gaelhawks lost in the finals, he said.
“Even though we knew we were going to Atlanta, we went to the Connecticut competition,” Niski said. “We always compete in Hartford.”
The robotics team is part of the national FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) organization. Students work with teachers, parents and engineers to design, build and compete with a new robot design each year.
The team was awarded finalist medals and was recognized with the Motorola Quality Award for the excellent design and construction of this year’s robot.
The computer animation team won first prize in the Autodesk Excellence in Design Award for a video presentation on recycling and the FIRST Green initiative. Sophomore Michael Rak led the team of student animators through the design and production of this year’s winning video. Their entry will now be judged with 43 other regional winners in Atlanta.
Spoldi was selected as a Dean’s List Finalist from the Connecticut Region for her outstanding efforts as a leader. She is in the running for the National Dean’s list, which will be selected at the championship event.
Niski said for information and photos visit http://www.shsrobotics.org/. Shelton is in its 12th year of participation in FIRST Robotics.
The team is looking for sponsors to assist in funding the trip to the national competition. For information or to become a sponsor contact Niski at jniski@
sheltonpublicschools.org.
Contact Patricia Villers at pvillers@
newhavenregister.com.
