In the Media
2011
FIRST Robotics scores high marks from many Ontario teachers for offering their students top-notch practical – and universal – learning experiences, even if the program is not always tied to the curriculum.
At the Greater Toronto Regional FIRST Competition last April – the final step before the world championships – students show off what they’ve accomplished and continue to learn.
Under siege from a cacophony of noise, Tony Petrecca protects himself with oversized... More
Simcoe’s third VEX Championship win since 2006
Young St. Catharines robotics enthusiasts triumphed last weekend.
Five qualifying secondary schools from the Garden City descended on the prestigious VEX Robotics World Championship in Orlando, Fla.
There, teams from Governor Simcoe, St. Catharines Collegiate, Holy Cross, Sir Winston Churchill and Ridley College joined forces for the huge match-up of 3,800 teams from 20 countries.
In the end, Governor Simcoe's alliance with Massachusetts... More
Source:
St. Catharines Standard
Sixty Robotics High School teams from across Ontario and the Niagara Region competed at the 2010 regional competitions held at Governor Simcoe Secondary School, St. Catharines on December 11th. The Vex Robotics Design System was developed and engineered with co-curricular and extracurricular robotics competitions specifically in mind. This program is tailored to bring the magic of robots into the classroom along with the excitement of building and competing with robots. Winners from the... More
Source:
SNAP St. Catharines
The metal robot glides across the fenced-in area, picking up blue rings and sliding them onto posts.
Nick Lawrence steers the machine by remote control as Mike Viney gives advice under the watchful eye of an auditorium of people.
As their robot scoots around the play area, it sports a sign that says In Memory of Stephen Rourke.
Thoughout the year, the senior students from Westlane Secondary School in Niagara Falls have honoured their St. Catharines mentor who died in May at age 50.
"If it... More
2010
One of the world's leading after-school robotics programs is at Governor Simcoe SS in St. Catharines. Governor Simcoe recently cemented its international reputation with a second-place finish in the 19th annual global FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics competition in Atlanta.
FIRST, a New-Hampshire-based not-for-profit group, promotes programs in all grades, from Lego for kindergarten children to robotics for high school students.
More than 500 teams from... More
Source:
Professionally Speaking
2009
Robots resembling runaway factory hoppers roll around the Ontario Science Centre’s grand hall, tossing bright-coloured balls that look to be made of silly string.
The bewildering game takes place under a banner proclaiming, “Robots Rule Weekend.” The flag presides over two simultaneous events where robots and their makers play games.
On one side of the big room, pre-teen technicians demonstrate tiny robots made from components from Lego Mindstorms, the toy company’s robot-making division, while... More
The robotics team from Governor Simcoe has landed a top-12 spot on the world podium for the seventh straight year.
The 22-student Simbotics team competed at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta over the weekend in the world robotics championship.
Reigning world champions, the Simbotics came in a respectable 12th this time around.
“They’re already working on stuff for next year,” said team leader Greg Phillips, a tech teacher at the school. “They’re planning.”
The... More
It's called Lunacy. Listening to Greg Phillips describe the premise of the robotics competition in which 22 Governor Simcoe Secondary School students will test their mettle this weekend, the name is apt.
But it's brilliance that got the St. Catharines high school's robotics team, the Simbotics, to the FIRST world robotics championship in Atlanta for the seventh straight year.
Westlane Secondary School in Niagara Falls is also sending a team.
Friday, they will take to the field at the Georgia... More
Recently, the Discovery Channel's Daily Planet gave a primer for the Greater Toronto Regional. They visited our team at our practice field and interviewed members of our team. They profiled us on the Thursday of the Greater Toronto Regional, following our improvement done in the pits and our practicing on the field. The video can be found on the Discovery Channel's website. Originally aired 03/26/2009. More
Two St. Catharines high schools have been elevated to the echelons of robotics greatness.
Sir Winston Churchill and Governor Simcoe Secondary schools both earned major accolades at the VEX Robotics World Championships in Dallas, Texas, last weekend, including a top three finish for a robot designed and operated by Churchill students and a duo of prestigious awards for Simcoe’s Simbotics team.
The schools competed against 273 teams from 14 countries to secure the honours.
They did it by battling... More
2008
An episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation featuring Team 1114's robots and students.
Part 1 - Originally aired 30/11/08.
Part 2 - Originally aired 18/01/09. More
An inspired team of students from Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ont. can claim international bragging rights for robotics innovation. Future engineers on team 1114, also known as Simbotics, finished the year with a record of three regional wins, a chairman’s award, a championship division win and world champion status in this year’s Robotics Competition (FRC).
The Simbotics robot out-classed its competitors on the game field performing a series of moves. The... More
Thanks to an inspiring team of students at Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ont., Canada has international bragging rights in the development of robotics innovations by tomorrow’s engineers. Team 1114, also known as Simbotics, finished the year with a record of three regional wins, a chairman’s award, a championship division win and world champion status in this year’s Robotics Competition (FRC).
Created to help young people discover that science, math and... More
Source:
Corinne Lynds, writer for Autoplant Magazine
A high school team from St. Catharines, Ont., teamed with two schools from the U.S. to win a world title in robotics over the weekend in Atlanta.
The 25-student team from Governor Simcoe Secondary School, called Simbotics, finished the competition with a perfect 13-0 record to win the annual Robotics Championship alongside schools from Michigan and Texas.
The Simbotics team's task was to build and program a robot that would move around a track and aim oversized balls at targets.
The weekend... More
Source:
CBC.ca News
TV crews descended on the high school. A sign outside trumpeted the team's win. Inside, the halls buzzed with news about how some of Governor Simcoe's own defied nerves to win a world championship in front of 17,000 screaming fans.
It's an honour usually bestowed on top sports teams. But this week, the attention at the north-end high school is on a different kind of hero: the future engineers on the school's robotics team.
The Simbotics won gold Saturday in the annual Robotics... More
Students on a high school robotics team from St. Catharines, Ont. have been crowned world champions after battling more than 1,500 squads for the top spot.
Twenty-five students from Governor Simcoe Secondary School --known as the "Simbotics" -- won the (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition Championship in Atlanta, Ga., last weekend.
"We've been working towards this goal for six years now and the team's pretty ecstatic about it,... More
Source:
CTV.ca News Staff
A robotics team from Governor Simcoe Secondary School became a world champion this weekend.
The Simbotics, a team of 25 tech-minded students aged 14 to 18, won the annual FIRST Championship in Atlanta, Ga., teaming up with students from Texas and Michigan to take down 350 other teams. Spectators at the competition included astronauts, Internet executives and former president George H.W. Bush.
“We are absolutely ecstatic,” said Catherine McNamara, a team mentor and employee at General Motors,... More
A robotics team from Governor Simcoe Secondary School became a world champion this weekend.
The Simbotics, a team of 25 tech-minded students aged 14 to 18, won the annual FIRST Championship in Atlanta, Ga., teaming up with students from Texas and Michigan to take down 350 other teams. Spectators at the competition included astronauts, Internet executives and former president George H.W. Bush.
"We are absolutely ecstatic," said Catherine McNamara, a team mentor and employee at General Motors,... More
The Simbots have successfully defended their title.
The Governor Simcoe Secondary School robotics team, dubbed Team 1114 Simbotics, found themselves in the winners’ circle at the Waterloo regional for the third weekend in a row.
It may have been a four-day weekend for most students, but for the Simbotics, Easter weekend started Thursday with them arriving at the (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) challenge.
The team competed against 30 other teams from across... More
Source:
Mike Zettel, writer for The Standard
It's March break, but beyond the locked doors of Governor Simcoe Secondary School is a robotics team that doesn't believe in weeks off.
The Simbotics, who are 20 students from Grades 9 to 12 (plus one eighth grader), have several tournaments ahead after taking gold at a Chicago robotics championship. The biggest date in their future: the world championship in Georgia in April.
"They're (at the school) right now," Catherine McNamara, a General Motors employee and team... More
Governor Simcoe Secondary School’s robot team picked up first place in a regional competition staged in Chicago.
The team, Simbotics, built a robot over a period of six weeks for the (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. is an organization designed to inspire students in the areas of mathematics, engineering, science and technology.
Each year a new game is created, with this year’s challenge, Overdrive, being based on NASCAR, with the... More
Source:
The Standard Staff
Working on it late every school night and even more on the weekends, the robotics team at Governor Simcoe Secondary School have said good-bye to their creation.
At least for now.
On Tuesday, members for team competing in the (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) program were at Diamond Jubilee School in Niagara Falls, where they had set up a practice area, to pack up their robot, Simbot SS, and send it away to Chicago, where they will compete against other high school... More
Source:
Mike Zettel, writer for The Standard
2007
Looking something like a miniature plastic forklift, the LEGO robotic device moves across the tabletop map towards a row of trees.
Sensing the trees in front of it, the robot aims its claw as it drives forward to pick it up. Carrying the four trees, the robot crosses the map and deposits them near the river.
Standing at the side of the map, a puzzle created specifically for this year’s LEGO League challenge played by thousands of elementary students aged 9-14 around the world, are Virgil... More
Source:
Mike Zettel, writer for Niagara This Week
On Dec. 2, I attended a Lego Robotics competition at the Glendale Campus of Niagara College.
It was necessary for me to show up as I had to witness what my 12-year-old son had been talking non-stop about for the last two months.
He went to school early, stayed late after school, and brought home instructional DVDs that I just had to watch with him.
I saw my son, who likes school a lot, really get worked up over the preparations that he, his 11 teammates, and his coach/mentor/teacher were... More
Source:
Robert Smallman, Letter to the Editor
Rock music is blaring, there’s all the pizza, pop and party snacks you can eat, and, with all the brightly coloured Lego around, it’s not surprising the kids are having fun.
But underneath the hype and excitement there’s some serious learning going on, and Saturday’s Power Puzzle challenge at Niagara College is an attempt to cultivate the engineers and designers of tomorrow.
Roughly 170 students on 21 teams from Niagara-area elementary schools competed in the third... More
Source:
Marlene Bergsma, writer for The Standard
Simbotics are back-to-back world champions.
A team from Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines recently captured gold at the World’s For Inspiration of Science and Technology () Robotics Competition at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Attending the tournament for the first time, Grade 9 student Matt admitted, “I was expecting a lot less. As soon as I walked into the dome and saw all the people, I was excited and nervous.”
Having captured gold last year, Simbotics... More
St. Catharines is home to more than one championship team.
Tell the Falcons and their Golden Horseshoe League trophy to share the spotlight because Team 1114 GM Simbotics of Governor Simcoe Secondary School are World VEX Robotics gold medal champions.
1114 GM Simbotics won the medal at the (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) World Robotics Championships at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on April 12-13. On a more disappointing note, the team’s full-size robot, which... More
Source:
Michael Speck, writer for The Standard
General Motors is a proud sponsor of Robotics. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization that allows students to experience Mathematics, Science and Engineering through the use of robotics. The teams have six weeks to design, build and test their robots before competition. GM St. Catharines sponsors two local teams: Governor Simcoe Secondary School and Westlane Secondary School.
In three regional events our teams have combined reached the semi-finals six... More
Source:
General Motors Monthly
2006
In a blink of an eye, the pair of 11-year-old engineers-in-the-making watched two months of hard work collapse before their eyes.
Drew Rhora, his eyes the size of dinner plates, squeezed the top of his head with both hands in frustration. His robot was paralyzed and the clock was ticking.
Rhora’s teammate Michael Ferrara frantically ripped the robot apart, hoping to pull off a miracle and get the Lego bot working before time to complete an obstacle course ran out.
“It worked fine... More
Source:
Grant LaFleche, writer for The Standard
My wife and I had the pleasure of attending the recent Waterloo regional robotics competition where the Triplets robotics teams competed.
My daughter is a member of the Governor Simcoe team and we were totally amazed at the energy and excitement of the competition. I did not believe this until my daughter told me to take the excitement of winning a regional ringette championship and multiply it by 10.
She was right.
With more than 1000 in attendance, the robots battled, the kids scouted,... More
Source:
Al Davies, Letter to the Editor
A St. Catharines high school helped its team to robotics competition glory by teaching its five-foot mechanized create to bend it like Beckham.
Using the skills of famed British soccer play David Beckham as a model and namesake for their robot, students from Governor Simcoe Secondary School’s award-winning Simbotics club led their team to capture first in the Great Lakes regional For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology () robotics competition in Ypsilanti, Mich., last... More
Source:
DSBN News Release
Governor Simcoe Secondary School’s Robotics Team is heading to Atlanta, Georgia for an international robotics tournament after being named Overall Champion at a recent competition in the United States. The (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) team competed against 20 other teams from the United States and Singapore in the 2006 Delaware VEX Challenge Championship at the University of Delaware to capture the title.
The VEX Challenge is different from other Robotics... More
Source:
District School Board of Niagara News Release
2005
GM Powertrain St. Catharines has been a supporter of TM Robotics (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in the Niagara region since 2002. In partnership with Governor Simcoe Secondary School, “Simbotics” was formed and has competed in two TM Robotics seasons receiving several awards and inspiring local youth to pursue careers in science and technology.
Since then, significant growth has occurred in Niagara with the creation of NiagaraFIRST.org.
NiagaraFIRST.org... More
Source:
Scoreboard