2021 K-12 FIRST Robotics Teams & 2021 Science and Engineering Fair Awards Winners
FIRST LEGO League Challenge, FIRST Tech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition High School Robotics Teams
FIRST LEGO League Challenge Middle School Robotics – Team 3732 – Team Phoenix, Lafayette, LA
Team Phoenix, a FIRST LEGO League (FLL) robotics team, shares their innovation project, robot design, and several parts of robot game to this year's theme RePlay. Team Phoenix won the Champion’s Award at the Louisiana State Championship, the highest honor given. They also placed first in Robot Performance, which means their robot scored the highest number of points of any team in Louisiana.
FIRST LEGO League Challenge Middle School Robotics – Team 4249 – St. Theresa Warrior Robots, Gonzales, LA
This 7th and 8th grade robotics team competed in the Louisiana State Championship and placed 2nd overall in the state (Champion’s Award Finalist). This year’s theme was “Replay” focusing on getting outside and getting exercise. The students had to build and compete with their robots, but also do a project based on an innovation they came up with. They were also chosen to represent the state of Louisiana for their Innovation project and will compete for the Global Innovation Award later this year.
FIRST LEGO League Challenge Middle School Robotics – Team 2583 – Dragoneer Robotics, St. Dominic School, New Orleans, LA
St. Dominic School has had a FIRST LEGO League Challenge Team since 2005 and added FIRST LEGO League Explore in 2017. Many of our current team members started their FLL journey in 3rd grade and continue with us through 7th grade, some continue with robotics in high school. At the 2021 FIRST Louisiana State Championship, the team scored 2nd place in Robot Performance and were finalists for the Core Values Award.
FIRST Tech Challenge High School Robotics – Team 6448 – Jesuit Robotics, Jesuit High School, New Orleans, LA
This year, Jesuit’s robot is designed to be able to pick up, transport, and launch foam rings into a goal from a distance. Jesuit has won 2nd place in the robot game, 2nd place in the Collins Aerospace Innovate Award, 2nd place in the Design Award, and 1st place in the Control Award at the Qualifier and 3rd place in the robot game at the State Competition.
FIRST Robotics Competition High School Robotics – Team 3039 – Wildcat Robotics, Destrehan High School, Destrehan, LA
In 2020, the Wildcats won the Autonomous award at the Arkansas Rock City Regional and then unfortunately competitions were suspended due to Covid. Tune in to see how the Destrehan robotics team put their engineering skills to good use when the pandemic began.
FIRST Robotics Competition High School Robotics – Team 3039 – Wildcat Robotics, Destrehan High School, Destrehan, LA
In 2019, Destrehan won the Engineering Inspiration award sponsored by NASA at the Arkansas Rock City Regional that gave us an automatic birth to the World Championship. Also in 2019, they also won the General Motors Industrial Design award at the Bayou Regional, the regional for Louisiana and Mississippi.
Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair Grand Award Winners
Dylan Bracey and Brett Steele – 11th and 12th grade – Jesuit High School, New Orleans, LA – Hot Car Life Alarm
The Hot Car Life Alarm is a device designed to sense life within vehicles and to then help prevent the detected life form from dying. At the regional science fair, the project received first place in its category, a Grand Award, the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation Award, the Society for Science 2021 Community Innovation Award, and second place in the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) – Central Gulf Coast Section Award. Dylan and Brett will be representing the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering at the Virtual International Science and Engineering Fair.
Anita Zahiri – 12th grade – Benjamin Franklin High School, New Orleans, LA – Comparative Analysis of Genetic Mutations and Overall Survival in Patients with Glioblastoma Multiforme: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly aggressive and rapidly growing brain cancer that affects the central nervous system and typically leads to death within 15 months of diagnosis. It is the most malignant primary brain tumor with an incidence of roughly 2-3 per 100,000 people annually, mostly in adults between the ages of 45-70. The objective of this study was to identify the leading genetic mutations that occur in patients with GBM and compare overall patient survival rates by each respective genetic mutation. This project earned the Grand Award at the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair and will be competing at the International Science and Engineering Fair.
Sophia Landry – 12th grade – Isidore Newman High School, New Orleans, LA – Which pesticide is the most effective at deterring pests but least harmful to the environment?
The purpose of this project is to explore pesticide alternatives and their effect on plant and soil health. This experiment will use five independent variables: Acephate-based pesticide conventionally used pesticide, lemon juice, salt water, hydrogen peroxide, and no treatment for the control. The dependent variables are soil pH, soil nitrogen levels, leaf quality, and stem height. The successful plant is the tallest plant with the healthiest leaves to reassure that this will present a healthy harvest but the least change to the soil health. This project earned the Grand Award at the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair and will be competing at the International Science and Engineering Fair.
Joseph Zimmermann – 8th grade – Holy Cross School, New Orleans, LA – A Positioning Device for Patients
This experiment is centered around engineering and testing a positioning device made of a soft foam tube with a bendable metal core in the center. This device was tested on three pediatric patients who all have Cerebral Palsy and the device proved to be excellent to help support and conform to their joints in supine, sitting, and standing positions. This project earned the Junior Division Grand Award at the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair.
Kate Curtis – 8th grade – John Curtis Christian School, River Ridge, LA – How do the common feeder type birds of LA differ in behavior and bird types from Ithaca, NY?
Have you ever seen how the Blue Jay eats or the Morning Doves call? These are behaviors that can be studied. The birds were watched on the live Cornell Feeder Cam, and Kate was amazed by the birds’ behavior. Kate decided to compare the behavior in two different areas of the United States. The Cornell site, which is in Ithaca, New York was observed for 4 weeks, 3 times a day. After that, Kate set up a similar bird feeder arrangement in her backyard and observed the birds in River Ridge, LA. The time period was limited because of the due dates but she is continuing to observe. This project earned the Junior Division Grand Award at the Greater New Orleans Science and Engineering Fair.
