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North Delta robotics team headed to (virtual) world championships

Seaquam Robotics junior team 9181N won the third annual VEX Change Up Signature Event in February
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Seaquam Secondary 2021 junior robotics team 9181N won the third annual Middle School VEX Change Up Signature Event over the Family Day long weekend, qualifying them to compete in the world championship in May. Pictured, from left are Grade 10 students Krithik Keshan Tamilselvan (designer), Owen Reid (builder), Carter Jones (builder) and Trevor Ruttan (driver). (Delta School District photo)

Four North Delta students are gearing up to take on the world’s best after taking home the top prize at a robotics competition last month.

Over the Family Day weekend, two Seaquam Robotics teams competed remotely in the third-annual VEX Change Up Signature Event, one at the middle school level and one at the high school level.

Junior team 9181N (aka “Bababooey”), made up of Grade 10 students Owen Reid (builder), Krithik Keshan Tamilselvan (designer), Carter Jones (builder) and Trevor Ruttan (driver), made history by winning the tournament, qualifying them to compete at the VEX Robotics World Championship, happening online May 17-29.

“This is the first time Seaquam has ever won this event and only the second time we’ve competed,” said Lanz Singbeil, robotics and engineering teacher at Seaquam. “Huge congratulations to them for their efforts.”

Meanwhile, senior team 9181W (aka “What?”), made up of Grade 11 students Julian Pietaroia (driver/builder), Reade Legal (programmer) and Vincent He (general helper), managed to make it to the semifinals against stiff competition from teams across North America.

“They were up against some of the toughest teams in the world and were still able to make it to the semifinals,” Singbeil said. “I’m so proud of all of our students for their great work [that] weekend.”

Seaquam Secondary has a well-established and successful robotics academic program. Currently, there are six senior teams and six junior teams in the program, and all compete in VEX Robotics competitions.

In December, senior team 9181C, made up of Grade 12 students Aryan Neb (captain), Oscar Ure (builder), Sam Lee (driver) and Raymond Zhou (builder) and Grade 11 student Ryu Sado (programmer), placed second in the VEX Robotics Team Website Challenge for their work in creating the Seaquam Robotics website last summer.

The website (seaquamrobotics.ca) includes team pages, a detailed year-by-year history of the program, links to video tutorials created by the students themselves, and resource pages to help other teams — or anyone interested in robotics — to design, code and build their own robots.



editor@northdeltareporter.com

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Seaquam Secondary 2021 senior robotics team 9181C placed second at the VEX Robotics Team Website Challenge in December, 2020. Pictured, from left to right, are Raymond Zhou (builder, Grade 12), Sam Lee (driver, Grade 12), Ryu Sado (programmer, Grade 11), Oscar Ure (builder, Grade 12), and Aryan Neb (captain, Grade 12). (Delta School District photo)


James Smith

About the Author: James Smith

James Smith is the founding editor of the North Delta Reporter.
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