The Ithaca High School FIRST Robotics Competition Team is looking for technical mentors to aid them during the build season (January-March). The challenge is released the first week of January but check out the links to see previous competitions and the team’s previous robots. The competitions take place in March and April if they make it to champs. Students build everyday after school and on the weekends but attending every single meeting definitely isn’t necessary (but people tend to get hooked). Consistent mentorship is ideal but just having fresh faces around the team will be a great benefit for them alone own regardless of how much time someone is able to give. The need right now is for mentors with a mechanical or electrical engineering background with basic knowledge of CAD. The students currently program the robot in C++ but would like to move toward using Java with the assistance of mentors this year.

FIRST Robotics is an incredible organization that reaches thousands of kids grades K-12 annually. Not only will technical mentors serve as advisors for building a robot, but students also have role models to look up to in engineering which I think is even more critical. Any time someone is willing to give will be invaluable for the students and the team. If anyone is interested or has questions, please email Haley Antoine (hla37@cornell.edu) and she will get you connected to the team!