Last week on January 29^th, a group of robotic engineers shared insight and advice at the New York Tech Long Island campus. A peek into the meeting room would have revealed a pleasant surprise—most of the attendees were high school students! Team Roboboogie, 3540 of Hewlett High School met with director Dr. Michael Nizich and students Winston Wang, Logan Edwards, and Tyler Hradek to get a close-up look at the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC) program.

Roboboogie competes in the FIRST Tech Challenge (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), where teams design, build, and program robots to complete autonomous tasks and face off against competitors. Each September, a new challenge is introduced, giving students fresh opportunities to test their engineering skills. Teams work collaboratively under the guidance of adult mentors—Roboboogie’s mentor, Satyan Persaud, facilitated their visit to New York Tech.

The FIRST Tech Challenge is an incredible initiative for STEM-minded high school students. By designing and programming their own robots, they develop hands-on engineering skills, gain experience in robotics, and learn the importance of teamwork. More than just technical expertise, the experience also builds confidence and increases students' interest in attending college, as shown by an internal study.

Teams compete at local and regional events and, if qualified, advance to the Championships. Roboboogie is one of these talented teams; they made it to the World Championship in 2023 and will be competing at the regional competition in March.

New York Tech and ETIC student Logan Edwards, who was at the visit, deeply appreciated his participation in the FIRST Tech Challenge when he was in high school. In fact, the experience taught him that he wanted to pursue electrical and computer engineering.

“I also learned a lot about working with a team. When you have multiple people working on the same machine and toward the same goal you need to communicate a lot and make sure everyone's goals are still aligned.  That communication is vital to anyone who wants to work in a team of engineers; it has helped me get to where I am today.” — Logan Edwards, BS Electrical & Computer Engineering

Roboboogie’s visit to New York Tech was a meeting of like-minded, robotically inclined individuals. The high school students were fascinated by Baxter, a commercial-grade industrial robot used for autonomous task delivery. The ETIC students demonstrated how they use Baxter to simulate medical procedures on a mannequin. Using computer-aided designs (CADs) they built for a NASA project, the ETIC students also walked the Roboboogie team through their development process—from initial concept to CAD design, 3-D printing, and finally an operational prototype.

Roboboogie also shared their designs for the Challenge, allowing ETIC students to take on the role of mentors. They provided feedback such as suggestions for certain gears and forklift videos for inspiration. At the close of the visit, ETIC invited the Hewlett team to participate in the NASA Smart Case program in which they will get the opportunity to assemble a proprietary intelligent shipping container for an ETIC prototype. 

The Roboboogie team was deeply impressed by their experience with ETIC, and in turn, the ETIC students were thrilled to help nurture their enthusiasm for an academic career in robotics and engineering.

“It felt good to think what we do here inspires kids like them to reach for their goals… I hope their visit gave them insight into the college life, and more importantly their robot design.” — Logan Edwards, BS Electrical & Computer Engineering

The Hewlett team has a bright future ahead of them. They aren’t just high school students competing in a robotics competition; they are future engineering students, potential ETIC participants, and the next generation of robotic engineers. New York Tech looks forward to continuing its engagement with the Hewlett team and seeing what they will accomplish.