The opening of the Sports and Engineering Complex (SEC) marks a new era for technology and innovation at The Emery/Weiner School. From state-of-the-art laser printers to workshops equipped with every type of power tool imaginable, there is ample space for creating and inventing. With new technology and spaces came new opportunities, including the establishment of an Upper School robotics team.
The current club’s roster includes sophomore and club president Zane Rigsby, sophomores Ryan Berger and Max Madof, and senior Bryce Sabloff.
When an Israeli robotics team presented during Rigsby’s robotics class last year, he met with fellow teammates, Berger and Madof, to try and start their own team. Sponsored by technology teachers Jared Curtis and Justin Zendt, Rigsby worked hard to get the team rolling. Rigsby even reveals that in order to get the funding to establish this team, “[they] had to pull from the SEC budget.” Once announcements and member recruitment were done, “It came to the more difficult part — actually building the robot,” Rigsby laughs. Over multiple summer sessions, the teams worked tirelessly to get organized and learn what to do. Madof admits that the “number one thing that helped [him] was actually YouTube.” This only reveals the ingenuity of the team and how self-motivated they were about learning everything robotics.
Building a robot is undoubtedly a challenging process that requires a lot of trial and error; however, learning how to work as a team can be just as much of a challenge.
Months into their innovations, they have all found an appreciation for the new equipment. “We have a mock arena that is completely to the scale of the arena used in competitions,” reveals Rigsby and Sabloff adds, “With the SEC, we can house more materials for our robot, as well as it helps us stay more organized and efficient.”
While this has been a process full of trial and error and learning how to work as a team, Zendt relates their passion to their success. He says, “They are extremely passionate. They fight about the designs because they care a lot about it, and so there is a lot of passion in all their work on it.” While this is a new addition to the expansion of the technology and innovation program at Emery, the team’s dedication and enthusiasm have set it up to become a staple program for years to come, providing a safe space for creativity and teamwork. Zendt concludes, “I am super proud of them because it is a huge time commitment and takes a lot of work, and I’m so happy to have the club.”
