Hauppauge Robotics Team Wins Regional Competition

Hauppauge High School's robotics team, the Robotic Eagles, took first place in the SBPLI (School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc.) FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Regional Robotics Competition event held on April 5 and 6 at Hofstra University.

Not only did the local students win the regional competition, but they also took home the Chairman’s award, which is considered the most prestigious accolade in the event. According to SBPLI, the award "honors the team that, in the judges’ estimation, best represents a model for other teams to emulate, and which embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST." The Hauppauge team worked in alliance with Long Island City and Westhampton Beach.

More than 1,200 students from 50 high schools from Long Island, New York City and Brazil participated in the competition.

In the competition, the students had to create and build a robot over a six-week time frame. The students gathered to compete with their robots, in which two alliances of three teams each attempted to throw as many flying discs into their goals as possible during the 2-minute, 15-second match. Discs thrown into higher goals scored alliances more points. Matches ended with robots attempting to climb up pyramids located near the middle of the field.

“All teams demonstrated tremendous teamwork, gracious professionalism and strategic thinking, but these winners went above and beyond to overcome the challenges of the competition,” said Ginny Greco, FRC Director of SBPLI, sponsor of the Long Island Regional FIRST Competition. “The fun and excitement of the competition was evident as many students, professional mentors, school groups and community members caught the spirit and came to cheer on their favorite teams as engineering and technology at work surpassed the excitement of a championship athletic event.”

Hauppauge’s wins qualified the team to compete in the World Championships in St. Louis happening April 24 -28.