Girls of Steel
100% all girls FIRST ®
robotics team
FRC team 3504
Newsletter
Volume 4 #5
2015-2016
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Find What You Need
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COMPETITION SEASON UPDATES
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The Girls of Steel team attended 3 competitions this year: Greater Pittsburgh Regional at California University of Pennsylvania (March 10-12), Queen City Regional at Xavier University in Cincinnati OH (March 30-April 2), and the FIRST World Championships in St. Louis (April 27- 30). In addition, we co-hosted the annual post-season scrimmage with FRC 3260 on April 16, 2016.
GREATER PITTSBURGH REGIONAL: MARCH 10 - 12
 We kicked off our competition season March 10 - 12 by attending the
Greater Pittsburgh Regional at California University of Pennsylvania. With our strong (and LOUD) cheering section and polka dots covering the entire arena, the Girls of Steel made a strong showing in the competition. After finishing the qualifying matches ranked #24, we were proud to be selected to join the #8 Alliance along with Alliance Leader,
Team 5740 (The Trojanators) and
Team 2614 (MARS). After two tough losses in the Quarterfinals, we kept our energy moving forward to cheer on the remaining teams in the competition.
You can watch all of the event matches (courtesy of
DELPHI Elite's YouTubechannel), including our final, HIGHLY EXCITING final qualifying match by clicking
HERE.
The Girls of Steel were awarded the Regional ENTREPRENEURSHIP Award sponsored by Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. This award celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit by recognizing a team that has developed the framework for a comprehensive business plan to scope, manage, and achieve team objectives. We were proud to accept this award for all of our hard work to keep this team alive!
QUEEN CITY REGIONAL: MARCH 30 - APRIL 2
From March 30 - April 2, the Girls of Steel boarded a bus and headed to Cincinnati, OH to the
Queen City Regional
at Xavier University. 56 teams attended and with a strong showing in the final qualifying matches, we were ranked #12.
During Alliance Selections, we were privileged to be the Alliance Leader for the #8 Alliance and chose
Team 2016 (Mighty Monkey Wrenches) and
Team 5811 (BONDS) to join us. A HUGE shout out to our Alliance Partner, Team 5811 (BONDS) who went on to win the Rookie All-Star Team Award at Championships in St. Louis. We were so proud to be a part of their rookie year story!
The most exciting moment of the Queen City Regional was where we were awarded the
Regional ENGINEERING INSPIRATION Award.
This award celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team's school and community. In addition to honoring all of the hard work we did to advance STEM within our community, this award also qualified us to attend the 2016 FIRST World Championships in St. Louis!
But, all work and no play makes Byte a dull robot, right? It is always fun to connect with other teams and we were excited to join together with Team 2399 (The Fighting Unicorns), a fellow all-girls team from Cleveland, OH for an evening of bowling, ice cream, and celebrating Girls in Robotics! Thank you, Unicorns!
You can read more about this competition weekend on the Girls of Steel Blog by clicking HERE.
POST SEASON SCRIMMAGE: APRIL 16
The annual post-season scrimmage was held on Saturday, April 16th at the
National Robotics Engineering Center
. This event was co-hosted by the Girls of Steel and
Team 3260 (SHARP)
. The day was attended by more than a hundred team members and guests of
six teams.
Thank you to all who attended!
FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
APRIL 27 - APRIL 30
 After months of anticipation, we were OFF to St. Louis on April 27 for the 2016
FIRST World Championships
! Our journey started very early and the competition was non-stop for us for 4 straight days. Together, with 900 teams from all over the world, we enjoyed events such as conference sessions, RoboProm, Innovation Faire, and the exciting Closing Ceremonies and Dance Party.
As a part of the Newton Division, we competed with 75 other teams. We ended the competition ranked #59 and were proud to be a
part of a division which included so many awesome teams.
We were fortunate enough to meet Dean Kamen (FIRST founder) along with Megan Smith (Chief Technology Officer), and Andrew Coy and Kate Gage (Senior Advisors) with the Office of Science and Technology Policy for the White House.
What a wonderful way to wrap up a fantastic competition season!
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COMMUNITY OUTREACH
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We've been busy with outreach during competition season and beyond. Here's a glimpse at some of our events and activities along with what's coming up soon...
Students in our pipeline of programs presented their FLL, FTC, and FRC robots at the North Hills Pittsburgh American Association of University Women Tech Savvy event at La Roche College on May 14th. You can hear the interview with members of the FRC team (and our robot, Byte) by clicking
HERE
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May 22nd was a great day celebrating STEM with 71 middle school girls! Those who attended participated in fun workshops including a hummingbird build session, reverse engineering of a mamaRoo, and a hand tools workshop. A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to our guest speakers, mentors,
4moms,
and
Birdbrain Technologies LLC
for helping to support our event.
In addition, we did a chassis building workshop at a Gelfand Center Saturday class, demonstrated our robot at CMU's Tech Nights, a National Robotics Week event, and the Junior Achievement Career Fair. We also hosted a table of activities and demoed EV3 robots at the Woolslair STEAM event.
Be sure to stop by to see us at the Remake Learning Tent in the Giant Eagle Creativity Zone at Three Rivers Arts Festival on June 12th!
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OUTSTANDING NEWS
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"Speed Dating" with the
Girls of Steel
On Tuesday, March 1st, we kicked off competition season in an exciting way - a meeting with SWE- Society of Women Engineers from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). SWE visited us at CMU to talk with GoS and offer advice and counsel about being women in STEM.
You can read more about this event on the Girls of Steel Blog by clicking
HERE
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Gateway to Equity Award
On April 20th we were honored to receive the 2016 "Gateway to Equity Award" from the
North Hills Pittsburgh Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW)
for our work towards "empowering girls through well-developed skills in STEM by providing a place where girls can think technically and creatively...". After graciously accepting the award on behalf of the Girls of Steel, Mikayla and Jimin gave a presentation about the team.
Byte Gets a Visitor
On April 6th, Former Secretary of State and current Presidential Candidate, Hillary Clinton, came to visit and hear about the impact the Girls of Steel is having on women in the STEM field.
Girls of Steel Mentor Receives Gelfand Award
for Community Outreach
On April 26th, Girls of Steel Co-Founded and Mentor, George Kantor, was awarded
The Mark Gelfand Service Award for Educational Outreach
by Carnegie-Mellon University. Established in 2009, this award is given annually to a member of the university community who has combined sustained, effective community service with academic coursework and a deliberate process of student reflection to enhance the learning experience and teach social responsibility to students while improving some aspect of life in the community. We couldn't be prouder!
Time to Celebrate! The Girls of Steel Gala
On May 14, it was time to CELEBRATE all that the Girls of Steel have accomplished in the 2015-2016 season. Together with our friends, families, and supporters, the team enjoy a lovely meal, an inspirational message from
Revathi Advaithi, the chief operating officer, Electrical Sector for Eaton Corporation, and let loose on the dance floor. Thank you to our Gala Planning Committee for throwing us this fabulous party and thank you to all of those who cheered us on through the year.
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STEM OPPORTUNITIES
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LINKS & MORE
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TEAM INFORMATION
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Girls of Steel Calendar: See all Girls of Steel events and meetings in one place!
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[email protected]
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