Military Magnet Academy (MMA) students recently participated in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge, Lowcountry-Pee Dee Inter-League Tournament February 1, 2020.

There were a total of 15 teams and 66 registered volunteers that participated in the event on Saturday, January 25, 2020.

The MMA RoboEagles spent a significant number of hours designing, building, and programming their robot, as well as learning what it takes to be part of a team.

The team overcame several obstacles such as programming issues and design/build issues. The team displayed FIRST’s core value “Gracious Professionalism” and will continue to take this transferable skill into the industry.

Teams were judged before competing which gave them the opportunity to win awards in addition to the competition. FIRST Tech Challenge judging sessions do not include written or verbal feedback for students. The judging is a subjective process, and students are encouraged to learn the important life skill of self-evaluation. This helps students prepare for professional interviews while developing other real-world life skills.

The RoboEagles won the following awards and earned a spot in the state competition that will be held in Gaffney, SC, Saturday, February 15, 2020:

Second Place Connect Award -A team must submit an engineering notebook. The engineering notebook must include a team plan that covers the team’s goals and plans for the season, which could include robot game strategies, outreach to science, engineering, and math communities, and team finances.

Second Place Design Award -A team must submit an engineering notebook that includes robot CAD images or detailed robot design drawings.

For more information, contact the Office of Strategy and Communications at (843) 937-6303.