Hi to all PA FTC Teams and Volunteers,
We hope you are all well and looking forward to enjoying spring weather and warmth and all the new hopes and aspirations the season will bring.
We at Pennsylvania FIRST Robotics are sad to see yet another PA FTC Season end, but already look forward to next season, especially given the enthusiasm and warm feelings we had working and playing with all of the amazing FTC teams since last September. We move forward with pride and joy at the results of what we feel was a very successful and fun experience for our teams. We hope you feel the same.
The season culminated with our PA Championship, Mar 8th and 9th at Bellefonte High School just 8 miles east of State College. It was a two-day extravaganza of tough, amazing and exciting competition. On Saturday evening we also had a Team Social at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center including a dance featuring DJ Tommy Gunn and ice cream served up from the Penn State Creamery. In addition, and even better, various Penn State University on-campus Engineering Centers and project-based exhibits were opened for our students and mentors to tour on Saturday evening too, thanks to Amy Pritchett, Professor and Head of Aerospace Engineering. All the tours were filled to capacity and those that attended reported an overall remarkable experience.
Centre County 4-H FIRST organization staff were our hosts and supported with planning and set up assistance as well as handling team pre-orders and concessions for the competition. We are very pleased with our collaboration and partnership with the local hotels, University, 4-H Centre County and Bellefonte High School and hope to continue to hold our FTC Championship in the region going forward. Thank you to our partners!
We also had a custom apparel vendor on site, Innovation by Design LLC. If you are interested in either the PA Championship or other FTC related apparel, please go to the following website and check it out: There are awesome customizable items for you to order.
https://robotics-ftc.spiritsale.com
The event pictures should be up on our website in mid-April as we collect them from our official photographer. If there are any participants that would like to share their own photos with us, especially the Team Social, pleae let us know or simply put them up on a drive and provide the link to ftc@pennfirst.org.
Of course, all our PA Championship results are on our website:
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2024-2025-season/pennsylvania-ftc-championship
We are honored to announce the following 4 teams who have advanced from the PA Championship to the upcoming FIRST Championship in Houston, TX, April 16-19, 2025. Please join us in extending congratulations and wishing them the best of luck as they continue their competitive journey:
Inspire Award: Team 20153 Silver Wolves, Unionville High School, Kennett Square (2nd consecutive year). Also Winning Alliance Captain.
Winning Alliance – Partner: Team 7244 OUT of the BOX Robotics, Thorndale, PA (5th time advancing to the Championship)
Inspire Award – 2nd Place: Team 14423 RoboCorns, Exton, PA (3nd consecutive year attending)
Inspire Award – 3rd Place: 18603 TeraBridges, Pittsburgh, PA (first time earning advancement to Houston)
Congratulations to our four Dean’s List Finalists. We wish them luck and hope to have a Finalist at the Championship again this season
Alex Hutchens – 16776 MARS: Opportunity!
Avyukt Iyer – 8393 The Giant Diencephalic BrainSTEM Robotics Team
Katherine Connolly – 20153 Silver Wolves
Sameer Gosalia – 8393 The Giant Diencephalic BrainSTEM Robotics Team
We are proud of you all!
This year, at the Houston Championship, there will be 256 FTC teams competing from around the World separated into 4 Divisions, 64 teams per division, the largest FTC Championship ever! There are many proud and energized Pennsylvania volunteers that will also be assisting in various key roles
Registration for the 2025-2026 FTC Season opens in May, so please look for the specific date. We will also inform you in another follow-up email to provide the results and successes of our PA teams.
In addition to the Championship 4, there are 6 additional PA teams that have been invited by FIRST HQ to attend a Premier event of their choosing, The 6 teams were the next on the Advancement list from the PA Championship. As of this writing 4 of 6 have accepted placement in one of the Premier events.
Next Season Kick-off will be Sept 6th, 2025. The full Season theme will be announced at the Championship.
Thank you to all of our teams and volunteers for a wonderful season. We look forward to bigger and better things next year and hope to have you all back.
All the best, and as always, stay safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
The Pennsylvania FIRST Tech Challenge Team