HNMCS Robotics held their 7th annual Engineering Career Night on 26 October 2023 with Orbit Robotics! Six engineers from a variety of disciplines from mining to surgical robotics spoke about their journey from high school to the engineering profession. Some common themes were, “Know your strengths – use them to create your ‘brand’”, “Keep learning – never turn down a challenge”, “You can turn your passions into your work” and “Stay curious – build a strong network.” 

Thanks to HNMCS parents Yves Bélanger, Michael Stefan and Victor Akan for inspiring the over 90 attendees by sharing your passion for engineering and your lifelong commitment to learning.

This summer, HNMCS Robotics had 2 weeks of FIRST Robotics Day Camp. To prepare for the summer camp, members of HNMCS Robotics completed training with FIRST trying out the camp activities and planning for the camp as counsellors!

In the 2 weeks of camp, We had over 40 registered campers! Whether the campers knew how to code or not, all campers enjoyed the activities that HNMCS Robotics planned such as the Cup Challenge where the campers had to code their robots to move as many cups out of the boundary and the Maze Challenge where the campers had to code their robots to complete the maze. 

At the end of each week, the campers had to complete the SUPERPOWERED Challenge, the theme of FLL 2022-2023! This gave a chance for all campers to experience an FLL competition. All of the campers left with awards, FIRST core values, and knowledge of coding!

In 4 years HNMCS Robotics, FRC Team 7659, went from an obscure unknown team to becoming a powerhouse all-girls’ force to which teams across Canada look to model themselves by. 

7659 continued to run outreach events that bring STEAM to youth both at HNMCS and beyond with the popular DropIN Coding sessions, STEM Day, STEAM Night, Engineering Career Night, Business Brunch, and Alumnae Chats. New this year, the team established the all-girls’ EmpowHER Robotics Tournament and expanded learning with the indigenous handshake, ConnectED, with the Mangilaluk School in Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories.

HNMCS is becoming the hub of robotics in Mississauga. We ran our first FLL Qualifier in December, where our FLL Team 2824 won the Breakthrough Award. We also collaborated with FIRST Canada to run free Summer Lego Camps!

In competitions, 7659 won the Ontario District Georgian Event, the prestigious Engineering Inspiration (2 years in a row) and the lifetime Woodie Flowers Mentor Award for Dr. Kozma. With over 90% of graduated 7659 members continuing to pursue STEM in university, 7659 Captain, Sabrina Fang, aptly summed up Dr. Kozma’s incredible contributions to advancing youth in STEM, “Dr. K has ignited a spark of passion within us, leading us to discover our unique strengths. Through her guidance, we soar higher and shine brighter, becoming the best versions of ourselves.” Keep on soaring and shining 7659 graduates – we will miss you.

Thursday May 18, 2023 hosted the 4th annual HNMCS Alumnae Chats. This event consisted of past HNMCS robotics team members to share their experiences and how robotics influenced their future. Our speakers included Julia, Melina, Pilar, Dream, and Rachel. By gaining knowledge on their current life after high school, students of HNMCS as well as other attendees were able to ask questions and have more insight on post high school graduation life. We look forward to seeing more HNMCS robotics graduates next year and hearing their personal experiences.

On Monday 15 May and Tuesday 16 May 2023, HNMCS Robotics connected with the grade 7 class of Mangilaluk School, a school located in Tuktoyaktuk of the Northwest Territories. Together, HNMCS Robotics and the grade 7 class exchanged knowledge on coding basics and the environment in Tuktoyaktuk. 

On Monday, Mr. Brown’s grade 7 class shared their life in an Indigenous community as well as the effects of climate change for HNMCS Robotics and the grade 7 and 10 classes of HNMCS. The grade 7 and 10 classes learned about the activities Mr. Brown’s class does and the different lifestyles, foods, and activities between Ontario and the Northwest Territories. The grade 7 and 10 classes, here in Ontario, gained knowledge of the environment and life in Tuktoyaktuk. 

On Tuesday, HNMCS Robotics shared a tutorial on coding basics. Mr. Brown’s grade 7 class learned what coding is, the importance of coding, and how to use Scratch, a programming language and website. The class learned how to use the move block, sound block, and event block. The class also got to create their own Scratch program. The grade 7 class in Tuktoyaktuk commented that they enjoyed coding on Scratch!

On Saturday 6 May 2023, HNMCS Robotics hosted the first-ever EmpowHER event led by girls for girls! Over 20 girls from all around Ontario joined us. The free event included FLL robot matches, icebreaker games, EDI (equity, diversity, inclusion) activities, and more! To begin, the girls as a team built teamwork through completing the JEDI Tower Challenge and the JEDI Race. In these challenges, every member of the team contributed, encouraged, and worked together to complete the challenges.

In these teams, the girls had the opportunity to code on Lego Spike whether they had coding experience or not. They took time to get comfortable with coding by going over movements, motors, sensors, light/sound, and line following. The girls had the chance to communicate with skilled coders and our judges: Ms. Mathews, Mr. Jaggernauth, Ms. Ko, and Ms. Susel. After learning about coding, they coded the robots for an FLL tournament as a team. The goal for the FLL tournament was to line-follow using the colour sensors. In the end, the teams presented their code for the robot to each other. Each team designed and created a unique robot. The girls also had the chance to drive the FRC robot. The girls had fun learning about equity, diversity, and inclusion from each other through the event!

HNMCS Robotics had an outstanding performance at the Provincial Competition over the Easter weekend at First Ontario Centre, Hamilton. During this three-day event, the team showcased how they strive to change the perspective of STEM to the executives of the FIRST Robotics Program, and they also demonstrated excellent teamwork as the drive team swerved through obstacles and scored game pieces with our expertly engineered robot.

Moreover, they are thrilled to announce that their lead mentor, Dr. Kozma, won the prestigious Woodie Flower Award for her outstanding commitment to inspiring and empowering youth. The award celebrates the effective communication in the art and science of engineering and design, making this a remarkable life-time achievement, as the team is proud to have such an exceptional mentor leading this inspiring team.

This has been a fantastic season for HNMCS Robotics. They are thrilled to share that they have won four awards, two blue banners, and achieved first in the Ontario District Georgian College Event.

HNMCS Robotics is a proud girl-powered team, and they regularly host various outreach initiatives that strive to promote and connect youth to individuals in STEAM. The team’s efforts has earned them many amazing awards, such as the Engineering Inspiration Award; an award that celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school or organization and community. As well as the Judge’s Award; an award where judges recognize a team’s unique efforts, performance, or dynamics merit, during the competition. The team has worked incredibly hard to achieve this success, and they could not be more proud of the dedication, passion, and hard work of all the members on the team.

As the robotics season draws to a close, HNMCS Robotics is not slowing down. Instead, they are actively working on initiatives that aim to CONNECT with communities, CREATE new opportunities, and CHANGE the perspective of STEM.

On May 6th, HNMCS Robotics will be hosting an all-girls STEM event, EmpowHER, that seeks to promote JEDI values (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) and inspire girls to pursue STEM fields by creating a supportive environment. This event highlights the team’s commitment to increasing diversity and inclusivity in STEM fields by encouraging more girls to participate. HNMCS Robotics recognizes the importance of empowering underrepresented groups in STEM and is taking active steps to create a more equitable and inclusive future for all.

HNMCS Robotics is continuing their mission of creating meaningful connections with communities through their upcoming Indigenous Connection Festival on May 15th and 16th. This event will focus on connecting with Mangilaluk School, Tuktoyaktuk in the Northwest Territories and teaching the grade 7 class coding basics using Scratch. This event not only provides an opportunity for the team to share their knowledge and skills with others, but it also demonstrates their commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) values by actively engaging and collaborating with underrepresented groups in STEM. In addition to sharing their expertise, HNMCS Robotics has made this event a “handshake” event, where the students from Tuktoyaktuk will teach them environmental awareness in return, promoting a mutual exchange of knowledge and ideas. Through initiatives like the Indigenous Connection Festival, HNMCS Robotics is demonstrating their dedication to creating a more inclusive and equitable world.

During March Break after the past couple of weeks, HNMCS Robotics has been busy tweaking our 2023 robot, “Lightning Queen ” and preparing for the McMaster Event the first weekend of April.  Mechanically we have geared down our intake arm to easily manipulate cones in addition to cubes. We also replaced the belt drive with a chain drive. In software, we’ve added features to reduce the need for human reaction and fine-tuned our autonomous routine. We used the position sensor of the FalconFX motor to speed up the manual drive of the arm. We have also added position control with cruise velocity and acceleration limits using PID (proportional, integral derivative feedback loop) to reduce the need for operator manipulation and increase speed and accuracy. With one button the arm will go to the target position to intake from the human position, to drop off at the mid-level or to tuck in safely in the robot’s frame. We have been pleased with the success of our hybrid node delivery during autonomous and now we have updated the routine to successfully clear the cable protector.

On March 5, 2023, HNMCS Robotics broke history. As one of three all-girls teams in Canada, the team stepped up into the spotlight representing girls globally. They left the event as winners and a two-time recipient of the Engineering Inspiration Award.

For the past eight weeks, HNMCS Robotics has worked hard to design and build a robot. The mentors and students dedicated their lunch periods and weekends to building the robot and field elements. The team sought innovative ways to build the robot. By integrating robotics into the school curriculum of computer science and physics, students actively worked on programming the autonomous period and the pneumatic system. Thanks to their sponsors, K-Tool, Pratt & Whitney, SOLIDWORKS, Hatch, and FIRST Canada, the build season was an immense success. They are proud to present their robot this season: Lightning Queen.

At competition, HNMCS Robotics stood tall during the qualification matches against 28 other robots. Throughout the challenging matches, the robot remained consistent as it successfully completed the autonomous period, scored cubes, and engaged with the charge station every match. The consistency, strength, and stability of the robot was recognized by the highest ranked team, MakeShift Robotics FRC4039 from St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario, and the third-highest ranked team, Simbotics FRC 1114 from Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catherine’s, Ontario. Together, the trio formed a powerful alliance, leveraging their unique strengths and working in seamless coordination to outmaneuver and outscore their opponents, ultimately defeating all seven opposing alliances in a thrilling display of innovation and teamwork. HNMCS Robotics’ driver, operator, technician and human players fiercely competed against opponent alliances. Additionally, their robot played a key role in the matches as it successfully defended against opponent robots and engaged the charge station every playoff match. In the finals, HNMCS Robotics brought pride to our school as winners of the competition.

HNMCS Robotics has been breaking down boundaries for girls in STEM. Their theme for this season is Connect, Create, Change. These three C’s embody their mission to create and inspire positive change in their communities. HNMCS Robotics’ impact runs year-long. Their annual events, including Engineering Career Night, Business Brunch, STEM Day, Alumnae Chats, and DropIN Coding, provide valuable learning experiences for youth across the province. Last summer, the team expanded their outreach globally by running coding workshops for all-girls schools in Trinidad and Tobago. Last December, the team hosted and ran the Mississauga FLL Qualifying Tournament, involving 300 attendees. HNMCS Robotics continues to connect with communities, create opportunities, and change perspectives on STEM. 

The leads of HNMCS Robotics had been tirelessly meeting in and outside of school to perfect their essay and presentation for the competition. They spent countless hours writing and editing their essay, carefully crafting each sentence to convey the team’s theme and message clearly and effectively. They also spent many hours scripting and rehearsing their presentation, making sure that they were able to deliver their ideas with clarity and confidence. Their tireless effort and dedication paid off in the end, as they delivered a stunning essay and presentation that captivated the judges and earned their team the coveted Engineering Inspiration Award. This award recognizes the team’s initiatives and efforts to respect, appreciate, and promote engineering and technology within and outside their community. Their hard work and determination were a shining example of the power of perseverance and the rewards of unwavering commitment to excellence. 

New but deeply-rooted; unconventional but innovative—HNMCS Robotics makes the most of every opportunity to amplify their impact and strength. This is only the beginning for 7659. The three C’s—Connect, Create, Change—will continue to shape their positive impact on HNMCS, the local community, and the world. We cannot wait to see their performance at the McMaster District Event on March 31-April 2, 2023 and the Provincial Championships on April 5-8, 2023!

HNMCS Robotics is ready for the ONT District Georgian Event! The team put the finishing touches on the competition robot: making bumpers, autonomous programming, drive practice, and tweaking the position control on the arm using PID and the Falcon500 motor. FRC7659 is excited to present for the FIRST Impact Award as we continue to connect with communities, create opportunities, and change perspectives in STEM.