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FTC robotics State Champion 7 Sigma captain Andrew Motz from Anderson Township workswith first alliance partner Jackson Daumeyer of Loveland team 5040-Nuts & Bolts at the i-SPACE Ohio First Tech Challenge State Championship for robotics at Loveland High School. (Photo: Chuck Gibson/Enquirer Contributor)
More than 700 people flowed into the Loveland High School gym Saturday, February 23, to witness the i-SPACE Ohio First Tech Challenge State Championship for robotics while nearly 2,000 more tuned in on live stream.
First – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – Tech Challenge (FTC) is the robotics team competition division for students from grades 7-12. The STEM education organization i-SPACE in Sharonville is the Ohio affiliate partner with FTC serving 35,000 students to prepare them for the STEM workforce of Cincinnati. Lori McAlister is a manager for the organization which also offers professional development for teachers and corporate professionals. She organized the championship tournament.
“This is the best of the best,” said McAlister. “This is the Ohio state championship. From here they’ll go to the World Championship in Detroit.”
Ohio has 112 FTC robotics teams in the state. Seven qualifying tournaments determined the 36 teams eligible to participate in the state championship tournament. Each team competed in five rounds of 2-1/2 minute matches with random alliances to decide the top four teams for finals. The results combine match scores with judges scores on preparation and engineering notebooks. The top four teams get to choose their alliances for the finals.
“It’s more than robots,” emphasized McAlister. “It’s getting to know each other all day. There is a lot of strategy involved.”
The finals champion was “7-Sigma” made up of high school seniors from Anderson Township with team captain Andrew Motz. They selected Loveland High School team 5040 – Nuts & Bolts as their first alliance. Team 10144 from Aurora High School in Aurora, OH was their second alliance team. Those three teams will be joined by six other Ohio teams advancing to Detroit for the World Championship April 24-27. McAlister said it is a complex system that determines who advances.
“Traditionally Ohio does very well,” McAlister noted. “We’ve had some teams who have won the world championship.”
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Ohio robotics teams have a reputation for being good. People want to see how Ohio is doing. A need for more space and a chance conversation McAlister had with Loveland School Board President Art Jarvis and School Superintendent Amy Crouse at the state championships one year ago brought the event to Loveland High School this year.
“It’s been extraordinary at Loveland today,” she said. “Facilities are great. Loveland people are great.”
McAlister said outstanding volunteers make the tournament a success. About 100 volunteers including judges, pit managers, and food servers run one tournament. There are eight, including the seven qualifying tournaments, in Ohio. That’s 800 volunteers in a season.
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Scott Sedam has no kids of his own involved, but has more than 20 years now serving as Judge Advisor for Ohio. Paul Smith’s kids graduated from the Loveland program two years ago and he continues as volunteer Head Referee for Ohio. Christina Hancock is a New Hampshire alumnus of FTC competition, became an engineer, works for G.E., lives in Sharonville and volunteers in Ohio now.
“It’s why I became an engineer,” said Hancock. “I want to support the organization that helps inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.”
It is volunteers, teachers and mentors preparing kids for the world of science, technology, engineering and math. Loveland robotics is affiliated with the school, but many more teams are not supported by schools.
“Loveland is fortunate to have a lot of support from the schools,” said McAlister. “A lot of these teams are in people’s basements. They’re collaborating; learning real life skills.”
Complete results of i-SPACE Ohio First Tech Challenge State Championship can be found online.
Read or Share this story: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/03/13/loveland-high-school-hosts-state-robotics-challenge/3139788002/
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