With more than 13 graduating seniors last spring, the robotics team looks to assemble a new squad to fill the positions of alumni. Team mentor Andy Cocagne encourages students to join for a multitude of reasons.

“It offers students a very good opportunity to explore high-tech things and improve not only as individuals, but team members,” Cocagne said. “It gives them a chance at leadership. For those interested in robotics, the team provides many different ways for students to gain hands-on experience. If a someone is interested in learning something, we have the resources to teach them and help them grow.”

Out of 400 teams, the Titanium Tigers finished 24th at 2016 State Championships. For the 2017 season, the Titanium Tigers are looking not only to match, but to improve upon last year’s results.

“One time at states, I was watching the other team’s’ safety presentations and they were all so good,” senior Megan Ferguson said. “After seeing them, I didn’t think we would do well. But we won first place. There are teams that have been together for a long time that can’t do that, so we’re pretty good.”

There are members of the team who work exclusively on the robots, doing tasks such as wiring and electrical work. Additionally, there are staffers who help with the marketing and funding of the team.

“The robot’s main task is to complete a game of some sort,” Cocagne said. “In order to do this, some staff members work exclusively on the robots. These staffers build things out of metal and plastic. Others use electrical wiring to wire the motors and sensors so that they can do their jobs properly. Also, there are positions dealing with computer programming and writing the codes that control the robot. There’s also marketing, working on our website and t-shirt designs and that kind of stuff.”

Joining the robotics team offers students experience in a multitude of career fields including mechanical engineering, electrical work and marketing.

“It’s great if you want to go into the engineering world, but you can go a lot of different places with it, like business,” junior Elle Brickles said. “Besides being a part of the business staff, I am also in charge of the spirit team at competitions. It’s about getting the team to wear orange, to dance and cheer at competitions. It’s so much fun, and there are awards that we get for it.”

Although the robotics season is already underway, students are still encouraged to join. Interested students should contact Cocagne in room 5-118.