Congratulations to Brush High School’s Hacksaw robotics team, which placed 14th in the world at the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship games at the America’s Center Convention Complex in St.Louis. The competition was held on April 25th-28th. 

Competing against 128 teams, the Brush robotics team won six out of its eight matches. The team was selected among the 2,100 teams in the world. 

Students are judged on their robot design, fundraising and software design, as well as the robot’s performance in games against other robots. Team Hacksaw was composed of juniors Jeff Bregar, Ray Frato, Abbey Frey, Killian Conkle, Lance Reynolds, Justin Schuster and Sean Toomey and sophomore Hailey Hoyat. Pat Checkel, a math instructor at Tri-C East, and her husband, David Fort, a software engineer at Rockwell Automation in Mayfield Heights, volunteer their time as mentors and fundraisers for the club.

The FIRST robotics competition started in 1992 with 28 teams in aNew Hampshire High school gymnasium. Presently, there are nearly 20,000 teams of students ranging in age from 6 to 18 representing more than 50 countries, including Egypt,Japan,Haiti and Ireland. 

The Brush robotics teams have participated in state competition since the club’s founding in 2002 and went on to world competition in 2003, 2007, 2009 and now in 2012. 

The Brush Robotics program was founded in 2002 by two Brush High Schoolteachers. At its first competition in 2003, the team won a rookie award and advanced to the championships in Texas. During the team’s first build season, its most sophisticated tool was a hacksaw, which is the name of one team each year.

To watch an informational video about the FIRST Robotics Championships narrated by Morgan Freeman, click here.