Robert Taiani Vice President | William Floyd School District
Robert Taiani Vice President | William Floyd School District
The William Floyd High School Robotics Team 287 recently participated in the FIRST Hudson Valley Regional competition held in Suffern, NY. The team competed with their robot named "Magicarp," a name inspired by advisor Joseph Carpinone and the water-themed game of the year. Under the guidance of Mr. Carpinone and fellow advisors Joseph Brand, Roxanna Casey, along with volunteers Christopher Ryon and Jack Fried from Brookhaven National Laboratory, Team 287 faced off against 48 other robotics teams from countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Turkey.
Team 287 achieved notable success as they became playoff alliance captains for the first time in six years, a position reserved for top-performing teams. They secured 10th place overall out of 49 teams and finished fifth in the playoff bracket. This event also served as preparation for their participation in this weekend's Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition at Hofstra University from March 19-22. Admission is free to visitors who wish to support Team 287.
In this year's challenge, titled REEFSCAPE presented by Haas, students were required to design and build robots weighing up to 135 pounds under a common set of rules that change annually. These competitions test students' STEM skills as they create and program robots for dynamic gameplay.
Members of Team 287 include Max Heitman (driver), Anthony Nacchio (operator), Carlos Hernandez Parias Jr. (scouting specialist), Carmine Nacchio (human player), Alice Chen (media specialist), Hamza Cheema (programming specialist), Christian D’Ambrosio (safety specialist) along with Gerard Gawlowski, Victoria Basharina, Berline Francois, Bee Indursky, Kenny Vo Nguyen, Jack Pantazis, Alpha Diallo, Connor Ng, Douglas Smith, Giovanni Tzitzimititla, Lucas Colon, and Davyen Robinette.
William Floyd Robotics has been competing since 1999 and has received numerous awards over the years including several Judges' Awards and Regional Winner titles.
The Gene Haas Foundation supports organizations like FIRST to promote manufacturing technology training programs which are essential for future industry needs.
Team 287 was congratulated on their performance at the Hudson Valley Regional and wished luck for their upcoming competition at Hofstra University.
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