New York Excelsior FIRST® Tech Challenge

A recent expansion by the New York Excelsior FIRST® Tech Challenge has placed thousands of students from all over upstate New York under the SUNY Polytechnic umbrella for the upcoming robotic tournament season. From December through March, middle and high school students will be competing with their unique robot designs from all over New York State. This intersection is invaluable for students interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics; also known as the STEM fields. 

 SUNY Poly is an affiliate partner with For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST®. The school guides and molds groups of junior high students through high school seniors from all corners of New York through statewide and on-campus robotics tournaments. With the 2019-2020 season upon us, students will once again experiment with concepts such as rapid prototyping, modular metal fabrication, and Java programming techniques to bring life to their semi-autonomous creations. Team members will also take advantage of brainstorming activities, collaboration exercises, project planning, time management, and problem solving. 

 Scrimmages will be held throughout December, with many already scheduled. The NY Excelsior Finger Lakes Qualifier will be held on December 8, 2019 at Penfield High School, and the NY Excelsior Kingstown (formerly Red Hook) Qualifier will be December 14, 2019, at Kingston High School. After that, the official Kick Off of the FIRST Robots Competition will be held tentatively on January 5, 2020 at the SUNY Poly Student Center. Additional regional qualifying rounds will be held in January, such as the Peekskill, Corning, and Albany Qualifiers on January 11, 12 and 18, respectively. 

 Additional dates will likely be added in the lead up to the NY Excelsior Regional championship to be held on March 14, 2020 at the SUNY Polytechnic Field House in Utica. And for the LEGO lovers among us, myself included, there’s also a FIRST LEGO League and League Junior. Qualifying rounds for regular league teams as well as the Utica Regional Championship will be held in early to mid-January. The Junior EXPO will be held on March 21, 2020 at the SUNY Poly Student Center. 

 Past and present students from SUNY Poly volunteer as mentors for some of the teams. For details on how to get the young students in your family involved, and for a full official calendar of dates and tournaments, readers can visit the FIRST at SUNY Poly page at sunypoly.edu/first. Our institutional efforts to create and maintain a steady pipeline of students into STEM careers need support from parents, from volunteers and of course from educators and their students at all levels in academia. 

 FIRST® Programs are open to students from kindergarten through grade 12. To get engaged with a local team send an email to first@sunypoly.edu, check out their official Facebook page at facebook.com/firstatsunypoly, or visit firstinspires.org to learn how you can participate in “a global robotics community preparing young people for the future.”