The San Dieguito High School Academy robotics team ranked 11th out of 51 teams globally at the FIRST Robotics San Diego Regionals competition March 21-24 at UC San Diego’s LionTree Arena.
Team Paradox’s success follows its 5th-place finish out of 50 teams at the FIRST Robotics competition March 2-3 in Port Hueneme. The team placed with the performance of its robot, which was designed, engineered and programmed by students, according to a team news release.
At Port Hueneme, Team Paradox had the opportunity to pair with fellow district team Aluminum Narwhals from Canyon Crest Academy in Carmel Valley.
“By partnering with several other teams to collect data on every robot’s performance, the students were able to pick incredible partners for the playoffs, including the Aluminum Narwhals from Canyon Crest Academy,” the team stated in its news release.
FIRST (an acronym: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an educational nonprofit founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, who is credited with developing the Segway and iBOT devices. The organization’s programs are available to schools and structured after-school activities, according to FIRST’s website.
Team Paradox was founded at the San Dieguito campus in 2006 and has more than 70 student members in addition to 25 volunteer mentors, according to the team’s website. Viasat, Qualcomm, SAIC, Solar Turbines and General Atomics’ Sciences Education Foundation are among the team’s sponsors.