Southwestern Pennsylvania Regional Qualifying Tournament

Here is what the judges had to say about the winner:

This Rookie team was created as a way for FLL graduates to continue their involvement in FIRST. This FTC team fills a gap in their FIRST Community by completing the full range of FIRST Programs. This teams goal is to spark an interest in the state for STEM.

The Judges' Award is given at the discretion of the judges to a team they have encountered whose unique efforts, performance or dynamics merit recognition, yet the team does not fit into any of the existing award categories.

Here is what the judges had to say about the winner:

This team had an incredibly robust robotic solution that scored at the highest levels all day. They scored every time in the autonomous by finding the IR beacon and depositing the block into the correct basket. The winner of this Autonomous Programming Award has been determined.

The Motivate Award celebrates the Team that exemplifies the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge Competition through Team spirit and enthusiasm. This Team shows their spirit through costumes and fun outfits, a Team cheer or outstanding spirit, or through their collective efforts to make FIRST known throughout their school or community.

Here is what the judges had to say about the winner:

This enthusiastic team exemplifies the essence of the competition through team buidling, cooperative team spirit, and gracious professionalism. This team could be seen helping many teams in the pits. Their ourtreach involves social media and extends the FTC spirit to other organizations, including a STEM Academy.

The Connect Award is presented to the Team that the Judges feel most connected with their local community and the engineering community. The best Team is more than the sum of its parts, and recognizes that their schools and communities play an essential part to their success. The recipient of this Award is recognized for helping the community understand FIRST, the FIRST Tech Challenge, and the Team itself. In addition, the Team that wins this Award is aggressively seeking engineers and exploring the opportunities available in the world of engineering, science, and technology.

Here is what the judges had to say about the winner:

This team was committed to spreading the importance of science and engineering to populations who did not have exposure to these fields. In doing so, they had to break down many barriers. Their 3-tier outreach plan leaves other teams green with envy.

The Rockwell Collins Innovate Award celebrates a Team that not only thinks outside the box, but also has the ingenuity and inventiveness to make their designs come to life. This Award is given to the Team that the Judges feel has the most Innovative and Creative Robot design solution to the FIRST Tech Challenge to any or all specific Field Elements or components. Elements of this Award include elegant design, robustness, and 'out of the box' thinking with regard to design. This Award may address the design of the whole Robot or some sub-assembly component attached to the Robot. The creative component needs to work consistently, but a Robot does not have to work all of the time during Matches to be considered for this Award. The Team's Engineering Notebook showed the design of the component(s) and the Team's Robot, and described succinctly how the Team arrived at that solution.

Here is what the judges had to say about the winner:

For Innovative use and re-purposing of approved build materials. This team effectively made a sticky belt from shelf liner material efficiently lifted, controlled and deposited blocks for maximized scoring.

The intent of the PTC Design Award is to expand the challenge, inspiring Teams to incorporate industrial design into their Robots. These elements can be shown in the simplicity of the design as it applies to the tasks, the look and feel of the Robot, and how the design allows us to think of Robots in new ways. The Design aspect must serve a function, but they should also differentiate the Robot in a unique fashion, not an easy task with a limited set of parts and Game challenge.

Here is what the judges had to say about the winner:

This team used CAD software to create a robot that is functional, elegant, and unique in its appearance. This team mapped out its strategy to get maximum end points and built a robot from diverse components, such as lego parts and rubber bands. This Quantum Physics oriented team equipped its robot with neon green lights to give it a futuristic, out of this world look!

The Think Award is given to the Team that the Judges feel best understood the role of the Engineering Notebook in the design process. The Engineering Notebook is the key reference for Judges to help them identify the most deserving Team. This Team's Engineering Notebook focused on the design and build stages of the Team's Robot.

Here is what the judges had to say about the winner:

This team has machine-like dedication in recording their engineering progress in their notebook. With a small team size, their motors were going full speed to design and build a solid robot and outreach with their community. This team's engineering notebook is smokin' hot!

he Inspire Award is given to the Team that the Judges felt truly embodied the 'challenge' of the FTC program. This Team serves as an inspiration to what this program and the young minds involved, can accomplish. The Team that receives this Award has performed well in all Judging categories and was chosen by the Judges as a model FIRST Tech Challenge Team. The Judges used Match performance, observations made during interviews and in the Pit area, the Team's Engineering Notebook, and performance on the Playing Field in determining the winner.

Here is what the judges had to say about the winner:

This team was clearly EXCITED throughout the competition, as they cheered on their team and others. This team proved to be worthy candidates of this award by performing well in a number of categories! This team not only showed their engineering prowess with the performance of their robot and their excellent documnetation, but also demonstrated their committment to outreach by helping underprivileged students LAUNCH an interest in STEM.