The Robots are Back

NORTH BAY FIRST ROBOTICS HOSTS COMPETITION LAUNCH EVENT

 North Bay FIRST Robotics, with committee Co-chair, Chris Minor and Tournament Director, Don McGrath, held a kick off event Tuesday at Nipissing University to promote its upcoming North Bay FIRST Robotics Competition. This year, the North Bay event will host 32 teams from across the province and the state of Michigan, in a competition pitting teams of 3 robots each, against one another. The event will take place at the Surtees Athletic Centre from the evening of Friday, March 21 to late Sunday, March 23.  FIRST Robotic Competitions foster team building with a focus on science and technology, personal growth through hands on technical exploration, a field of robot action elimination game, community outreach, and more.

The kickoff event was held to outline competition criteria, reveal this year’s competition game REEFSCAPE, and introduce and thank the event sponsors. The organizing committee plans the event throughout the year and is supported by numerous community sponsors and supporters. Chris Minor noted “This event draws 800 to 1000 people to the city and to Nipissing University and does a fantastic job of showcasing all North Bay has to offer.”

Nipissing University President and Honourary Chair, Kevin Wamsley, spoke of Nipissing’s longstanding support of the event, saying “Nipissing University is a proud sponsor of this event, because Nipissing is the research hub of the north, so it only makes sense that we can see research moving into knowledge translation. That's what we see in these over 800 students, who are going to come and be on our property for the weekend. We’re very proud to promote outstanding research and knowledge translation, problem solving and great character development to these students.”

Representing Platinum sponsor Redpath, Yves Benoit stated that “So the most important part to me is how I've noticed that the team and the organization as a whole, is a magnet for bright minds. So it's not just that you develop the bright minds, it’s that it attracts them and then you can build them. That's very, very important and very unique to FIRST Robotics.”  Yves went on to note that Redpath is very pleased to have hired a number of employees with FIRST Robotics program experience, and that they continue to encourage involvement in ongoing FIRST events.

Local team 1305 Ice Cubed members, Matthew and Ryder, shared that they have heard from many teams across the province that will be attending and that they are very excited for the North Bay event. They were also keen to demonstrate this year’s Team 1305 competition robot, “Monsoon”.

The competition will be open to the public and everyone is encouraged to attend. Best viewing times will be during Saturday matches from 11:30 to late afternoon, and from Sunday 9:30 am to late afternoon. 

 For more information, please visit www.firstroboticscanada.org.