March 21-23, 2019 we attended the Greater Pittsburgh Regional qualifier at California University of Pennsylvania.
On Thursday, practice day at the competition, Girls of Steel hosted a FIRST Ladies Meetup at lunch with Pratima Gluckman, the author of Nevertheless She Persisted, a book where she interviewed and wrote about women in leadership positions in tech fields. She talked to us about the importance of persistence, bravery, and good mentors for success. One of our members, Alex G., said of the event: “I learned that no matter the obstacles thrown our way, women can always make it and succeed. I’m looking forward to reading her book!”
Later on Thursday, several members of our team attended the Chairman’s Exchange, a workshop led by former chairman’s presenters and winners from teams 3504 and 3260 to give encouragement and advice to new presenters.
Also on Thursday, on the technical side, pit crew handled everything smoothly, we got in a few practice matches and climbed successfully in each match.
On Friday, qualification matches started. Once again, our climber shined, with our drivers even managing to pull off an improvised second platform level climb, when a cargo ball got in the way of the third level. Thanks to the hard work of drive team and pit crew, who were able to make some heroic last minute fixes, we were consistently highly ranked, ending the day in 4th place.
Additionally, our Chairman’s Award presenters had their interview on Friday and the team showed lots of support with a cheer squad greeting them after their interview! Also, Riley D. and Mary L. represented the team as Student Ambassadors on Friday and Saturday. The Chairman’s team created a new addition to our pit: a pop-up poster all about the chassis project.
On Saturday, we finished qualification matches in 6th place and went on to the playoffs as the number 4 alliance captains, choosing teams 1787 and 4150, some excellent picks thanks to our strategy team.
We made it all the way to the finals until we were defeated by the number 2 alliance. During the awards ceremony, we were honored to receive the Gracious Professionalism award. Additionally, each member of our alliance, the Regional Finalists, was awarded a wild card, which qualified us to go to World Championships in Detroit!
At the end of the event we helped with taking down the field and rolling up the carpet, which will be used at the Steel City Showdown off-season event at Carnegie Mellon in August.
It was a fun and busy weekend, and we’re so excited for what comes next!
