Carlos Saldana, the driver for 75161Z Tiger Nation, shared that this win made him feel like his talents and efforts finally paid off.
“Winning these awards makes me feel proud,” said Saldana. “I feel unique and useful, in that all of our hours of hard work could bring us to this point; it was worth it.”
Antonio Armendariz, the team lead for 75161Z Tiger Nation, echoed his teammate’s sentiments.
“All of the late nights, hard work, and stress was worth it,” said Armendariz. “We are going to continue to make history in Terrell.”
The team expressed that going into the tournament they were nervous they would not win because it seemed that they were up against much stronger and more sophisticated robots. Instead of making excuses, the team worked together to make the necessary changes to their robot.
“We knew our robot was not the best and felt that other teams were clearly better,” shared Armendariz. “We got together as a team and made modifications to improve our design.”
In addition to earning second place in the tournament, the team was also awarded the ‘Amaze’ award, which is presented to a team that has built a competition robot that clearly demonstrates overall quality, a solid mechanical design, as well as robot programming, robustness, strong performance and consistency.
“This opens a door for many of our students to know that there is a possibility for them to make it to this level,” shared Michael Daigrepont, Furlough Middle School Robotics, Engineering, and Rocketry teacher. “It means the world to me that my students have put in all the effort to make it to this moment. I can only foresee upward growth from our robotics program in excellence and quality as we pursue greater heights.”
Vex Worlds is the largest robotics event held in the world. It is the world championship of VRC (Vex Robotics Competition). The competition attracts nearly 10,000 people and presents opportunities for students to network with students from around the world. Students have the opportunity to meet and compete against robotic students from countries all over the globe. The event will take place in Louisville, Kentucky at the end of April.
Congratulations to the Furlough Middle School Robotics program and the members of Team 75161Z Tiger Nation: Antonio Armendariz, Carlos Saldana, Zoey Montoya, Jared Guajardo, Jason Castro, Isaac Shofner, Gabriel Santos Rollet, and Fatima Velasquez.