Poway High Schools community robotics team, Mechanical Advantage Team 16884 earned several awards at two competitions in December.

The team competed at the Tucson, Arizona FIRST Tech Challenge on Dec. 7 and the Central Phoenix Qualifying Tournament on Dec. 21. The win in Tucson has qualified the team to compete in the Arizona State Championship in Flagstaff in February. This is the teams first year competing in the FIRST Tech Challenge.

Mechanical Advantage is a community-based robotics team, supported by Poway High School with members from five different area schools. It is coached by Thomas Bosworth.

The team earned a first-place win with alliance partner The ROBO Warriors 15652 at the Tucson event, as well as earning the Control Award for programming. In Phoenix, the team took home the first-place Design Award and the second-place Connect Award, despite facing and overcoming a major electrical failure, according to a press release.

While the team has worked hard to produce a competitive robot, the members also spend substantial time mentoring other younger FIRST robotics teams and volunteering within their community, according to officials.

The team collaborates with Poway High Schools FIRST Robotics competition team, Team Spyder 1622, on various community outreaches. These include hosting FIRST Lego League tournaments, VEX competitions, participating in local food drives to support food relief efforts for hurricane victims and helping to host the inaugural FIRST Tech Challenge robotics scrimmage in South America, which was held in Asuncion, Paraguay.

For this team, FIRST robotics is more than just robots, said Bosworth. The program gives the team a chance to work with others who share a passion for STEM and improving their community. Mechanical Advantage looks forward to competing in the San Diego league for the remainder of the season and will continue to look for opportunities to help their community both at home and abroad.

The team is captained by Poway High freshman Rohan Bosworth, Poway High sophomore Madalyn Nguyen and Westview High sophomore PJ Wetherell. Other team members include Reily Hopkins (sophomore, Westview High School); Manjusri Gobiraj, Kaila Rosing and Christina Schierbeck (freshmen, Scripps Ranch High School); Rohin Sood (seventh grade, Oak Valley Middle School); and Arya Bosworth (sixth grade, Black Mountain Middle School Academy).

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Poway High community robotics team brings home wins in Arizona - The San Diego Union-Tribune