Published: 4/3/2019 1:52:20 PM
After winning last weekend’s FIRST Robotics competition at UNH, the John Stark/Hopkinton robotics team is moving on to the New England District championship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute later this month.
The Stark/Hopkinton squad also earned the Excellence in Engineering award, earning praise from the judges, who noted the team put “their brains, heart and courage into this elegant design” of their robot.
The team is now raising money to cover the $4,000 registration fee for the New England District competition, as well as related travel costs for the four-day event in Worcester, Mass.
An anonymous donor recently offered to match up to $5,000 in donations to the team before April 9, according to a SAU 24 press release. To donate, visit the team’s GoFundMe page at ozram1922.org/gofundme.html.
If the team advances to the FIRST Championship in Detroit, registration is also $5,000 plus travel expenses.
The team, known as OZRAM 1922, is now in its 14th season after the cooperative was formed by teachers, parents and students at John Stark and Hopkinton high schools. Neither school could afford to start its own team so they came together.
The team’s name comes from Osram-Sylvania in Hillsboro, who donated $2,000 so the team could compete in its first competition in 2006. The team won all-star rookie of the year honors that year and competed in the global event in Atlanta.
Several robotics teams from area schools competed at UNH last weekend, including 1512 The Big Red (Concord), 1517 The Lumberjacks (Concord), 1831 Screaming Eagles (Gilford) and 7314 Tornadoes (Franklin).