Harvey Robotics Teams Cap Off Year with Pair of Major Awards

KATONAH, N.Y. -  A pair of Harvey School robotics teams qualified to compete in the 2024 VEX World Robotics Championships, joining more than 800 teams representing over 60 countries on April 25-27 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. Two Harvey teams came home with trophies for winning two major awards at the world competition.

Team 6277C made up of seniors Katie McCulloch and Blake Friedman and juniors Meaghan Sullivan and Yorktown Heights resident Ryan Dey captured the Build Award, given to the team judged to have the highest caliber of construction and attention to detail in the division. Not only did the four Harvey students win this prestigious award, but their team advanced to the division quarterfinals, the farthest any Harvey robotics team has ever gone at the World Championships.

Team 6277B with juniors Logan Alexander of Goldens Bridge and Dan Wood and freshman Jack Zimmerman of Mahopac captured the Sportsmanship Award. The team distinguished themselves when one of their competitors flipped their robot and couldn’t drive - prompting Dan Wood to stop scoring points and maneuver his robot to push his disabled competitor back over to keep it a fair match. 

“Competing against the top teams from around the globe was truly a fulfilling experience,” shared Meaghan Sullivan. “Winning the Build Award, my second World Championship award, is a testament to all of the hard work the team has put in these past few months,” she said, adding. “This award was the perfect way to wrap up our undoubtedly successful experience.”

Teammate Katie McCulloch agreed, saying, “Each one of us worked hard and learned a lot this year. It was fun working with teams from all over the country throughout the year and from all over the world this past weekend.” Katie said, “Receiving the Build Award for the countless hours we've put into all aspects of the robotics designing, building, coding, and documenting process was extremely rewarding.”

The highly anticipated VEX 2024 World Robotics Championship brings together some of the brightest young minds from around the globe. This annual competition is organized by the Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation, which aims to inspire students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through the exciting world of robotics. The competition allows robotics teams to showcase their innovative designs and problem-solving skills in a variety of challenges.

The 2024 Build Award and the Sportsmanship Award are the Harvey Robotics program’s third and fourth World Championship awards in the past four years. In 2023, Team 6277C, with members Logan Alexander, Katie McCulloch, and Meaghan Sullivan, won the Innovate Award for demonstrating a strong combination of ingenuity and innovation in the design of their robot. The award recognizes unique engineering concepts and outside-of-the-box problem-solving in response to the complex challenges of the game. In 2021, team 6277D with members, now Harvey alumni, Katonah’s Giselle Groff ’22, Henry Howe ’22, Wendy Lichtenberg ’22, and Alex Piper ’22, won the World Championship Excellence Award, the highest award in the competition.

Coach Chris Kelly offered high praise to all the robotics students he has worked with in the program. Kelly, Harvey’s robotics director, said: “John Wahlers (technology director) and I are blessed to have committed students who are willing to put in the hours needed to compete and succeed at the national and international level. These talented teams routinely spend 25 extra hours a week designing, building, coding, and practicing. They come to the lab during their free periods, during their lunch period, following their after-school activities, and on weekends - Saturdays and Sundays. Their incredible success and accomplishments can be attributed solely to them - it’s their abilities, their determination, and their passion. John and I are just the guys with the keys to the lab. We both feel deeply privileged to have the opportunity to be a part of the program.”

Article courtesy of The Harvey School.