From March 28 – 30, 2024, we attended our second FIRST Robotics Competition of the season at McMaster University. We’ve got to meet different teams and enjoy our time in the exciting competition. Many of HNMCS Robotics’ alumnae dropped by our pit and were amazed at the progress the team has made in 5 short years.
Day 1 was quite thrilling as we competed with some of the best teams in the province. The drive team, awards team, scouting team, and pit crew all played significant roles in the competition and performed well.
Day 2 witnessed our great performance as well. Overall, this event was an amazing experience where students’ enthusiasm towards robotics was ignited. Through this event, our team members grew in leadership, teamwork, and respect for each other.
The stellar performance of HNMCS Robotics has earned us a place to compete at the provincial level with the best of the best at the International Centre, April 3–6.
From March 8 – 10, 2024, we attended our very first First Robotics Competition of the season at Centennial College. We got to meet different teams and see what each of the teams prepared. Day 1 was very successful, we finished the day in 7th place out of 29 teams. The drive team, scouting team, and pit crew were amazing. Spotlight on Sissi and Sunny, they recently joined the school in January and have been dedicated to the team since day 1. Amy, Maya, and Simona presented the impact presentation as well. Although they were nervous, they went in and crushed it! Maya even said, “Impact was a fun new experience to gain skills!” The photo booth at our pit was a big hit! Members from other teams and even the judges came by for pictures!
Day 2 was another successful day as well. We completed the competition and formed the 4th alliance captain. Being an alliance captain was a new first for HNMCS Robotics. We invited team 9569 and team 9659 to be a part of our alliance 4. Through this event, our team members grew leadership, teamwork, and respect for each other. It was great to see the rookies strive and have fun at the competition. The rookies said that they really liked the experience and would definitely go to the other events. Overall this event was an amazing experience and we went home with the District Engineering Inspiration Award, which celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school or organization and community.” HNMCS Robotics is already gearing up for our second competition at McMaster University, March 28-30.
On February 8, 2024, students in HNMCS’ Computer Science and Physics classes and Robotics Team, FRC 7659, went to the NGen N3 Summit! This summit was a forum for advanced manufacturing and innovation in Canada. Holy Name of Mary College School students represented Youth Culture Inc., a media company specializing in bringing youth together for interactive and meaningful experiences. Upon arriving, students were immersed in a panel discussion about robust electric vehicle value chains in Canada with members from Konnect AI, Recession Resource Canada and Electrovaya. The summit included a dynamic exhibition showcasing a myriad of cutting-edge platforms, products, and services, each heralding a new wave of innovation across industries. The second-panel discussion was about scaling AI, automation, and robotics solutions, giving our robotics team some new ideas and inspiration for their future creations. Students also had the opportunity to have a panel discussion with Linda Hasenfratz, Executive Chairman and CEO of Linamar Corporation, where they discussed advancements in manufacturing and the advancement of women in technological jobs. The experience at the N3 Summit broadened our students’ horizons of manufacturing and innovation. It sparked a renewed passion for technology, promising a future shaping the next generation of technological advancements.
As the new FRC season began, we began getting ready for the competition starting by building the field elements. Through weekdays and weekends, our members gathered to build. For most of the rookie members, it was their first time using tools such as the drill and the saw. We also started discussing game strategy and design concepts to play Crescendo. With the success of early prototyping, we are now designing in SOLIDWORKS. We are grateful to our mentor, Yixin, and HNMCS Robotics’ first captain for leading the weekly design sessions.
KickOff began on January 6th, 2024! We learned about the new additions to our robotics competitions, making them engaging and exciting for new players, as well as old. We divided into smaller groups to discuss strategies for the Crescendo competition! Each group made ideas and engaged in this activity. Finally, the groups showcased and shared their strategies and thoughts, some groups physically acted as robots and simulated throwing actions, which was fun! HNMCS Robotics is now ready to build and design the robot! We are excited for the new Crescendo season!
On December 2nd, HNMCS Robotics hosted the 6th annual Business Brunch alongside Orbit Robotics. Business Brunch is an interactive event where business graduates join high school students to discuss education, university life, their current jobs, past jobs, and much more. As a first-year grade 9, business brunch was an enriching and enlightening experience. I was given the chance to help plan and lead this event. From this leadership role, I gained much insight into the robotics co-curricular and business careers. I believe that this event is important from a grade 9 perspective as it brings things into perspective and reality. One of the lessons I learned was that many of your post-secondary expectations tend to change completely not for the worse but for the better. The guests touched upon that changing a whole career path can be daunting especially if you have worked throughout high school towards a specific career. However, with hard work and dedication, this shift in career will be smoother. The speakers taught us some challenges that come with starting a business. They also encouraged us to fulfill our dream of having our own business.
As a Giving Tuesday initiative, HNMCS Robotics worked with the Children’s Book Bank to collect books over the month of November. The Children’s Book Bank provides free books and literacy support to children in high-needs neighbourhoods in Toronto. In total HNMCS Robotics collected over 400 books with the help of team members, school staff and students. An important aspect of HNMCS Robotics is giving back to the community. Our team members were excited to provide young families in need with the opportunity to have new books, especially during the holiday season. The team knows how important books are in fostering a love of learning. “I didn’t expect to learn much from a children’s book, but even in grade 10 I’m finding out new things from reading,” said Chelsea, a grade 10 student at HNMCS. Students left surprise greetings in the books extending the best wishes from HNMCS Robotics.
HNMCS Robotics strives to support the greater community and used this book drive to rally the whole school community to provide less privileged children with access to books thereby improving literacy rates and bridging the gap between socioeconomic outcomes.
I am a rookie member of HNMCS Robotics. Robotics is not only popular among the students but is known across Mississauga. As a rookie member, HNMCS Robotics allowed me to experience driving, controlling, and understanding the works of the robot to discover if I would like to pursue a more important role on the robotics team. The opportunities I have had to learn were mainly from my older peers, fantastic mentors, who teach and help me grow, as well as give me responsibilities and opportunities to make my experiences in robotics more fulfilling. The initiatives of HNMCS Robotics gave me a good perspective of the team and were inspiring. The conference especially was an amazing way to notice the connection, hard work, and care the members put into the team and the robot.
Saturday, November 25, 2023, marked an extraordinary day of endless creativity for over 100 young minds as they attended the FIRST Lego League Challenge Mississauga Qualifying Tournament. Sponsored by FIRST Robotics Canada, and hosted by HNMCS Robotics, FRC Team 7659, this event brought together amazing engineers, programmers, and problem solvers for a day of fun activities and nail-biting competition.
The event consisted of 48 robot competition rounds, where teams’ robots ran autonomous programs within a 2.5-minute timeframe to complete as many missions as possible. In addition to teams gathering points in their official robot rounds, they were also judged on their robot design that demonstrated iterative engineering skills; their core values of teamwork, inclusion, discovery, impact innovation and fun; and their innovation project where they presented a solution to an existing problem in the world.
A highlight of the event was the attendance of some esteemed guests. Acting Mayor Chris Fonseca, a passionate advocate for STEAM education, encouraged young minds and emphasised the importance of technology and creativity in the future.
We also welcomed Arti Javeri, Vice President of FIRST Robotics Canada, Sarah Sils, a Senior Mentor from FIRST Robotics Canada, and Annika Pint, FIRST Lego League Challenge Program Manager of FIRST Robotics Canada.
HNMCS Robotics has grown from 2 girls to a powerhouse team of over 40 girls in the senior school. Founding member Kasthuri Thambipillai ‘17 together with Fayble Shawera ‘21 and Julia Arturi ‘22 were judges and leads at the event. Iris, a grade 9 rookie student said, “Shadowing Fayble was a transformative experience that was incredibly inspiring. Fayble is a strong character and is a perfect example of the person I would like to be in the future.”
The HNMCS Robostars, FLL 2824, whom we mentor, had an excellent start to their season. The team was rewarded for this creative project idea by winning the Innovation Award and qualified to compete at the FIRST Lego League Provincial Championships in January!
In the spirit of FIRST Robotics’ mission to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, the FIRST Lego League Tournament 2023 stands as a shining example of the incredible potential that lies within the minds of our youth. As these young participants continue to explore, create, and innovate, the future of STEAM looks brighter than ever, and we can’t wait to see them all again next year!
This year the event was live streamed on our YouTube channel thereby providing the opportunity to reach a global audience. For those who missed the live action, you can catch the excitement by visiting the live stream links:
November 5, 2023, was an thrilling day for HNMCS Robotics! HNMCS Robotics were at the STEMley Cup Overtime Sunday. We got to see the awesome robots many teams made for the final time before the end of the season. Our Operator: Amy, Driver: Sam, Technician: Jona and Megan, Human Player: Poppy and Simona, and Scouting Lead: Maya all did an amazing job! The Grade 9 Rookies of our team, participating for the first time, were impressive as well! HNMCS Robotics was on the first Alliance for the playoffs. After a series of intense and competitive rounds, HNMCS Robotics emerged as the Champions! We extend our gratitude to Dr. Kozma, our generous sponsors, and dedicated parents for their support. Special thanks also go out to our skilled alliance partners, team 4907, ThunderStamps, and team 7558, ALT-F4! It was a great way to end the season! The preparation for the 2024 season begins as we retire “Lightning Queen”! ⚡️
HNMCS Robotics Team 7659 