This week, from Thursday to Saturday, the Red Alert robotics team will be competing in the FIRST World Championships at the George R. Brown Center in Houston, Texas, against 600 other teams from around the world.
The team qualified on April 5, when they won the Impact Award, which automatically punched their tickets to the world championships.
“Impact is an award given to teams who have made a significant impact in terms of community service and STEM education on their community,” senior Abigail Fain said. “It is the most prestigious award in FIRST and one of the few that guarantees teams a spot at the next level of competition. At worlds, we will compete with 91 other teams from around the world for the impact award.”
Although winning the Impact award qualified them for Worlds, the team also qualified through their robot performance. Red Alert finished 31-17 throughout the season with their robot “Monarch,” while also notching a finalist appearance in their Kokomo district event.
“I feel as if our robot has done extremely well this season,” sophomore Austin Petkovich said. “We’ve done a lot of work and fine tuning to make our weaknesses some of our strengths. The overall design of the robot is complex and unique, making us stand out throughout the world. Our robot has not only exceeded my expectations, but has also changed the perspective of the world about what is possible for this year’s challenge.”
The team will be flying over to Houston on Wednesday, where they will be able to interact with teams from countries like Brazil, Turkiye, Israel and many more, setting up an atmosphere of international cooperation and a melting pot of ideas.
“I am very excited to meet other teams from other countries and learn about how robotics is implemented in their school and country. It will also be very interesting to see what kind of design they have gone with to tackle this game,” senior Evan Gagne said.
Although the World Championships has 600 teams, it is split up into 8 divisions named after famous scientists, each of which will crown a winner. Those winners move on to the final round, also called Einsteins, to declare a winner. Red Alert is in the Milstein division this year.
“I think that our division is one of the strongest divisions out of all eight. I believe that in the level of competition at worlds, there will be a lot of upsets as scoring limits are reached more and more. I think our team has a good chance if we can show high offensive capabilities, but even more so with solid defense,” senior Jed Roberts said.
The last time Red Alert went to the World Championships was in 2022, where they were the finalist of their division. This year, they hope to achieve a better result.
“I think we have a very competitive robot this year, and I hope to be more competitive than we were last time we went. Last time we finished in the division finals, and I hope that we can at least replicate that result if not improve upon [it],” Gagne said.
By the time the team comes home on Sunday, they will have completed a season that started in January, won three awards at the district and state level and made memories to last a lifetime. For the seniors, most of whom will have attended two world championships in their career, it will be the last chapter in their four years as a member of the team.
“I am immensely grateful for the experiences robotics has given me,” Fain said. “I have not only been given an amazing community of peers and mentors who have supported me through high school, but also opportunities few others outside of robotics get. FIRST allows students to get professional and competitive experience early in life, preparing you for interviews, college and a future career. FIRST also fosters a love for teamwork and STEM, which is something I gained from the program. The competitions and season are like no other activity, and getting to be involved in such an amazing activity with all my best friends is amazing.”
