Thomas of Villanova is excited to be starting a Robotics Team, the Villanova WiredCats (Team #5885), as part of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a multinational organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen committed to fostering students’ 3.interest in science, technology and engineering. FRC is an educational career-molding experience for approximately 250 000 stu
dents on more than 4 000 teams from over 50 participating countries. FRC is the only competition that places high school students side-by-side with industry professionals to work toward a common goal. This unique interaction aids students in developing a wide variety of technical and non-technical skills. Please visit the FIRST website for more information on this outstanding organization: http://www.firstroboticscanada.org
Through the building of a robot capable of effectively completing the assigned tasks and working with and against other teams, we achieve our main goal of giving our students real world experience in electrical and mechanical engineering, programming, animation, public relations, audio/visual technology, website design, and accounting. Our students also develop communication and teamwork skills working with their teammates, professional engineers, corporate sponsors and mentors. Many of our students learn time management, team building and leadership skills as section leaders and team coordinator. Our students will also be expected to exemplify a key part of FIRST: Gracious Professionalism. This means that fierce competition and cooperation can indeed coexist; it's the practice of encouraging professional work, mutual respect and outreach.
