Girls of Steel FTC 9820 and 9821: 2021-2022 Update #1 Team Introductions

Hello!

We are the 2021 FTC teams for Girls of Steel Robotics! We consist of 9 team members that make up 2 teams: Hopper and Hypatia, along with our mentors, Maggie and Sarah, and the FTC Liaison, Lauren, in FRC. Up until recently, we have been meeting online. We had our first in person meeting October 21st, where we took apart old robots and participated in some team building exercises. It was interesting to look at the small screws and gears of the robot and to see the important role these small parts play. In that meeting we also saw previous robots that were made as well.

In the past couple of meetings, we’ve been coming up with possible designs and ideas for our robot and shared and discussed them. Now that we have seen the parts we are to work with, our designs will be improved. Some goals we have for this year are to get more girls involved with STEM and to place in our competitions!

Let’s meet the teams!

Hypatia FTC 9820

Sophia is 13 years old and an 8th grader at Moon Area Middle School and has been in GoS since she was 8. Surprisingly, she used to hate anything remotely related to computer science since she used to want to be a doctor and thought that the two subjects have no relation. She went to a speech where a college professor spoke about the connection that computer science has to medicine. Since then, computer science has fascinated her. She has participated in STEM through school and different workshops. Sophia enjoys running, piano, singing, karate, writing, coding, and more!

Aashi is in 8th grade at Franklin Regional Middle School and she is 13 years old. Aashi enjoys participating in loads of STEM activities. She has been in FLL and the different workshops GOS offers. Things she loves are sports(soccer and volleyball), piano, flute, reading, drawing, Girl Scouts and much more! Aashi enjoys volunteering at local charities and much more.

Ava is an avid participant of the STEM community at just 14 years old. She attends A.E. Oblock, a school in the Plum district. She has participated in FLL, multiple hackathons, and SWE++ programs. In addition to those, Ava enjoys taking art classes, yoga, and doing volunteer work for the Arthritis Foundation.

Lucia is a 13 year old who attends Winchester Thurston middle school. She’s been in Girls of Steel since she was 10, including FLL and Scratch summer camps/ workshops. In her free time, she enjoys sewing, playing lacrosse and field hockey, skiing, and coding for robotics. Lucia is very excited to be a part of the FTC team this year.

Hopper FTC 9821

Audrey is an 8th grader at Marshall Middle School in Wexford, PA. She enjoys dancing, playing tennis, drawing, solving problems, and more. Audrey has had other STEM experiences at CMU, but this is her first year joining Girls of Steel. She is excited to learn more about robotics, programming, and other skills!

Sunny is 14 years old and is a 9th grader at Shady Side Academy. She has participated in FLL (outside of GoS) and has always had an interest in STEM including coding. Her hobbies include drawing, reading, playing piano, writing, basketball, and more.

Mikaela is a 13 year old 8th grader at Ingomar Middle School in the North Allegheny school district. Mikaela has had previous experiences within the STEM community such as FLL, hackathons, and coding camps. She has other hobbies and interests such as piano, swimming, waterpolo, and reading.

Gray is an 8th grader at Colfax in Pittsburgh. They have experience in STEM, including coding, mathematics, and mechanics. They enjoy writing, music, kung fu, and art. They want to learn more about building and coding a robot in FTC as well as simply being in the team.