Learning Resource Center (LRC) Director Carol Naughton just put her years of experience in robotic engineering to use by creating West Chicago Community High School’s very first Robotics Club. The club, which launched in September, will work on building robots, just like battle bots, and needs people to support their club. 

Naughton explained the new Robotics Club is a group “for all students that are interested or have an interest” in engineering and robot design and programming. They have tournaments against other school Robotics Clubs  all-day on Saturdays, giving students the opportunity to put their creations to battle against other robots at other schools. The club is looking to expand its membership in the coming weeks.

According to Robotics Club founder and junior Jack Riconosciuto, “All you need to join is an interest in robotics! You don’t need to have any experience, part of the goal of FIRST is to help educate about robotics and STEM as a whole.”

Riconosciuto was one of the first to start the Robotics Club, as he felt the high school was lacking in this area. He spoke to Naughtonand they worked together to start the Robotics Club. Currently, the organization has 13 members and counting!

FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,  is a robotics community that prepares students of all grades for the future. They provide team-based courses of competitions to students who are interested in gaining engineering skills and experience.

Riconosciuto said, “Every year, FIRST releases a new competition for each level, and we build robots to compete in them.”

In Robotics Club, students have the chance to develop engineering skills, as well as more experience in the field. At the same time, students create robots to compete in challenges.

Riconosciuto added, “The ultimate goal, however, would be to win the World Championships against other schools around the world.”

In the end, Robotics Club offers huge potential for future engineers to show off their skills building robots. For more information about the club, see Carol Naughton in the LRC.