Front (seated): L-R Nick Durre, Weston Sinn. Back (kneeling): L-R Scott Wenninger, Arlyn Cooper and Trent Church
Raider Robotics travelled this past Wednesday to Cedar Rapids Iowa to compete in The Super Regional Robotics tournament that they had prepared all season to earn qualifications for. The competition ended Saturday. In a crowd of several thousand people at the US Cellular Center in downtown Cedar Rapids, the Raider Robotics was named the recipient of the Judges Award. The Judge’s Award is given to only one team for their outstanding efforts both on and off the competition field. The judges were very impressed by this rookie team who not only designed an innovative robot to compete, won numerous awards leading up to super regionals, but have planted the roots for this program to grow and expand in their county. This is an extremely outstanding accomplishment for a first year team to receive this award.
Raider Robotics is the very first FTC Robotics Team to represent Paulding County Ohio. Raider Robotics consists of 4 Wayne Trace High School seniors and one sophomore who have a love for science and engineering technology. The team is currently sponsored by Cooper Farms, R&B Fabrications, Alliance Automation, Igus, and Solidworks. Their team is part of a non-profit worldwide organization called FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology). The mission of First is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders. The founder of First believes that one day some of these very young people will find cures to cancer, Alzheimer’s, and design devices to help move science, engineering, and technology forward for the world.
The Raider Robotics team met a major hurdle when their team captain, Trent Church was diagnosed this past fall with an inoperable brain tumor. He was transferred to Houston, Texas for several months for treatment. Despite these obstacles, this pioneer team for Paulding County has designed and built a very competitive robot and impressed the judges both on and off the playing field. The team consists of Arlyn Cooper, Scott Wenninger, Trent Church, Nick Durre, Westin Sinn, and college mentor Tate Church. Suzanne Cooper is the team coach. Mark Sinn has recently joined the team as a coach as well. The team’s coaches are currently beginning to plan for next year and expand the teams to also include an FLL (First Lego League) team which would encompass the younger students from grades 4-8 as well. If you or your business is interested in this team & their future endeavors, please feel free to contact the team coach, Suzanne Cooper at 419-796-0011.
