Photo Caption: Jeff Landry is in the front first from right. Heading to the Worlds are Shawn J. - Back row: Red jacket blue mask, Niyati Patel - Middle, first from right - black shirt, Sparsh Patel giving the peace sign, Neel Patel - Back - black shirt, Muhammad Ali Qureshi - back, third from right - purple shirt
Fort McMurray Public School Division (FMPSD) congratulates Westwood Robotics on heading to the prestigious VEX World Championship in Dallas, Texas. The event takes place from May 5 to 7 with over 820 teams in attendance from across the globe.
For Neel Patel, a grade 12 student at Westwood Community High School “qualifying for the World Championship is a dream that I’ve been working towards for four years now.”
“Every day when I walked past the trophy case with the previous World Championship Robots, it felt like an unattainable goal; a fantasy. Now, it’s a reality, and all my hard work has finally paid off. Heading to the Vex World Championship is an opportunity for me to connect with others who share my passion for Robotics from across the world. It’s a chance to network with like-minded peers and professionals in the field. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have some fun after being stuck in lockdown for two years.”
Niyati Patel agrees. She is also in grade 12 at Westwood and shares:
“Reaching this stage of qualifying for the Robotics World Championship has deeply motivated me to strive for my dreams and have a greater work ethic to accomplish them. With spending so much time and effort to reach this position in the competition I can proudly say that this dream is coming true. Looking through the albums of the previous World Championships created a strive within my team and me to enhance our Robotics knowledge and aim to do our best. As I represent girls in STEM, I hope to encourage them to learn about Robotics and pursue a related career if they are passionate. I hope to connect with others and learn about their backgrounds and why they are passionate about Robotics at this event.”
Over the years Westwood Robotics has won numerous awards. Most recently teams 221T and 221W formed an alliance and took home tournament champions at the Fort McMurray VEX Regional Tournament on March 5, 2022 where 10 teams competed.
Jeff Landry, Computer Science teacher at Westwood and coach for the Robotics team is excited for his team. He shares more on the program.
“The Robotics program at Westwood had a brief hiatus after our first appearance at VEX Worlds back in 2013 prior to my arrival at Westwood. Upon hearing the buzz and continued interest amongst students there was no doubt in my mind that we could get the ball rolling again. So in 2017 I started everything back up as a club designed to peak the interest and engineering minds of the students. Since that time we have had numerous City Tournament Championships, and amazing showcases at Provincial VEX competitions.”
The Robotics after-school club offer students the chance to work on competition level Robotics every Monday and Wednesday with an average of 25-30 students showing up on a regular basis.
“Since the initial after-school club, we have developed a senior high Option class in which we see on average 20 or so students a semester as well. Many double-up taking part in both the club and class. With the introduction of junior high to Westwood there has always been a high demand for the class and we can see anywhere from 50-60 students per semester often having to split up the class and add an extra teacher,” enthuses Landry, who joined FMPSD in late 2013.
Commenting on the upcoming trip, Landry notes, “teams must qualify at a provincial event in order to guarantee their spot at Worlds via the competition itself or participating in skills events in which they showcase their coding/driving skills individually.”
“Our qualifying team, 221W, had some hard luck when their battery fell off their robot during the final round of 16. Thus eliminating them from the running in the alliance component of the competition. That being said they were on top of their game when it came to the skills component posting a top 5 finish out of the 44 teams in attendance at the Alberta Provincial Finals. It was this score that made the difference when a spot became available as we were contacted by an Alberta VEX official and offered the chance to participate at Worlds.”
“There is no doubt in my mind that the students will put their best effort forth from the design phase to building/coding, and representing Westwood, FMPSD, Alberta, and Canada positively at Worlds. More importantly I want them to take some time to reflect as to what they have been able to accomplish, and simply take in the sheer extent of how much they have grown over the past three years. Their hard work, perseverance, and dedication to the team has brought them to the VEX World showcase and regardless of what happens that in itself is a major feat. Proud is an understatement, and I can’t wait to get to Dallas and see them compete at the top level!” Landry enthused.
Tifanie Book, Principal, Westwood Community High School is ecstatic for the team.
“Our senior Robotics teams at Westwood have worked tirelessly in the last two years to design and build amazing machines by integrating principles of engineering, coding, mathematics, mechanics and artificial intelligence. The students’ collaboration and determination has provided this amazing opportunity to compete on the world stage and represent Westwood internationally, showcasing skills developed in our advanced technology programming. The competition would not be possible without Mr. Landry’s hours of volunteer time, supporting our students and coaching the teams.”
Congratulations Westwood Robotics and Best of Luck!