Bayer Fund-Sponsored Teams Win Big at FIRST® Robotics Championship
Cultivating talented STEM graduates is essential, given the increasing complexity of many roles in today’s workforce. The Bayer Fund First Robotics Program provides grants to many FIRST teams in U.S. communities where our employees live and work.
Congratulations to the Winning Alliance of the 2023 FIRST Robotics World Championship – which included Bayer Fund grant winning team ‘Ctrl-Z’ (Champaign, Illinois). The FIRST Robotics competition challenges teams to design, program, and build an industrial-sized robot to compete in a head-to-head field game.
“Bayer Fund is proud to support more than 100 FIRST Robotics teams, and nine of these teams won awards recently at the prestigious World Championship event held in Houston,” said Al Mitchell, President of Bayer Fund. “Really they are all winners – as it’s impossible to over-estimate the benefits gained from practicing teamwork, community service, and hands-on science and technology.”
Ctrl-Z gets it RIGHT
Ctrl-Z ‘til it’s RIGHT, one of four teams in the World Champion alliance, has a fantastic backstory, according to George Mitchom, Bayer Platform Enablement Lead, who attended the World Championship as a judge for the First Tech Challenge (FTC).
In the Central Illinois Regional – one of the events to qualify for the World Championship – Ctrl-Z’s robot tipped over. The girls were able to maneuver the robot’s arm to get it up – which led to a loud eruption of cheering from the stadium. Unfortunately, once it was up, the robot began spinning wildly in circles, causing its extended arm to become a danger.
“The robot had to be disabled, and they were devastated,” George explained. “I am sure they thought no team would choose them for an alliance.”
However, the girls’ quick thinking under pressure impressed the lead team, who figured that what the girls had learned from this unfortunate situation would make them a stronger competitor in the next round. “The number one ranked team chose them for an alliance, and together they went on to win the Regional and head to Houston!” George said.
Ladies in the lead
The Drive Team of Ctrl-Z is all girls, and another Bayer Fund grant-winning team – G-Force Robotics (Clayton, North Carolina) – is an entire team of girls. 2023 marked G-Force Robotics’ first year to compete in the FIRST Robotics Championship, where the team was named a Rookie All-Star Winner.
“The girls did a wonderful job explaining their season and robot, talking about community outreach and volunteer initiatives, and sharing what motivates them,” explained Shannon Mann, G-Force coach. “We ranked 57/77 in match play, which might not seem like much, but for a rookie team competing against the best robotics teams in the world, it is good. Seeing all these world-class teams gave the girls lots of ideas for next year.”
Engaging students in STEM
George has been involved with FIRST competitions for more than a decade as a parent, coach, mentor, and sideline supporter. He is passionate about engaging young women in STEM.
“Robotics and STEM are still a heavily male-dominated area, but the avenues that FIRST has created for getting women in STEM has been outstanding, by giving them exposure to these engineering concepts and a chance to gain some confidence that they can do this,” George said.
Cultivating talented STEM graduates is essential, given the increasing complexity of many roles in today’s workforce. The Bayer Fund First Robotics Program provides grants to many FIRST teams in U.S. communities where our employees live and work.
In addition, Bayer employees like George give generously of their free time to support, coach, and mentor students in the FIRST competitions. (Volunteers are always welcome!) For example, employee Michelle Keller mentors Lutheran Roboteers (St. Peters, Missouri) – a World Championship Division winner. Employee Darren Pittman coaches Fire Island Robotics (Muscatine, Iowa), which was one of the 32 Bayer Fund grant recipient teams that qualified to attend the World Championship.
“As a mentor and coach, Michelle and Darren spend countless hours with their teams,” George said. “They provide tremendous knowledge and role modeling for these high school students. I am so thankful for them, and for an amazing program like FIRST Robotics, which uses the appeal of robots to expose students to the exciting fields of STEM.”
Congratulations 2023 FIRST® Robotics Championship – Bayer Fund grant-winning teams
Team 4096, Ctrl-Z (Champaign, IL) – Championship Winner
Team 9008, G-Force Robotics (Clayton, NC) – Rookie All Star Award
Team 3039, Wildcat Robotics (Destrehan, LA) – Team Spirit Award
Team 3008, Team Magma (Honolulu, HI) – Gracious Professionalism Award
Team 1678, Citrus Circuits (Davis, CA) – Championship Division Winner
Team 4329, Lutheran Roboteers (Saint Peters, MO) – Championship Division Winner
Team 5940, BREAD (Redwood City, CA) – Championship Division Finalist / Creativity Award Winner
Team 2338, Gear It Forward (Oswego, IL) – Championship Division Finalist
Team 4909, Bionics (Billerica, MA) – Championship Division Finalist
Congratulations 2023 FIRST® Tech Challenge Championship – Bayer Fund grant-winning teams
Team 10265, Force Green (Chesterfield, MO) – Think Award
Team 5773, Ink and Metal (Fremont, CA) – Control Award