MASSENA – Massena's FIRST Robotics Team 229 “Division By Zero” recently competed in the 2011 Finger Lakes Regional Robotics Competition at the Rochester Institute of Technology, and will soon be off to the next round of competition on Long Island March 24 to 26.

After excelling in the preliminary rounds on March 4 and 5, Division by Zero was seeded ninth out of the 44 participating teams and made it to the second round of the semi-final level. Competitor teams came from Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Canada, as well as from all over New York. The team is part of Clarkson University’s SPEED (Student Projects for Engineering Experience and Design) program.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a national program where high school students work with mentors from universities and industry to design, build, program, and run remote-controlled robots for competition.

Teams were required, in six weeks, to design, engineer and build a robot that competes in this year’s game “Logo Motion” on an intricate playing field. Each year more than 1,000 teams worldwide compete in the international robotics design competition.

Team 229 comprises students from Massena High School and Salmon River High School robotics teams who are mentored by engineering students from Clarkson University, and coached by Massena Technology Teacher Steven Robert and Salmon River Technology teacher Chuck Raiti.

Division by Zero Massena team members include: Driver, Alan Davis; Pit Crew members: Ethan Fregoe and Jon Weitz; and Jason Avery, Brianna Barley, Jennifer Beaudin, Renee Brown, Jenna Cruikshank, Meranda Delosh, Logan Ford, Isaiah Gotham, Emily Greco, Caisey Lamotte, Joe Kellogg, Ryan Parkinson, Bryce Ryan, Corey Snyder, and Jake Tyo.