Our Outreach
FIRST is about more than just building robots; FIRST is about changing the culture in which we live. Our mission is to help transform students into engineers, and engineers into heroes. Over the history of our team, we have been looking at the big picture, and have promoted an atmosphere of competition while sustaining gracious professionalism. In the hope that other teams will be able to learn from our experiences, we have released a collection of documents detailing the processes that we have developed; we hope that these documents will help other teams see the big picture, and realize that the greatest victories in life don't always happen on the field...
- "Simbotics: The Big Picture" - A detailed description of the efforts we have made towards transforming culture in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honour for science and technology.
- 2009 Chairman's Video Submission
- Simbotics In The Media - Detailed coverage of our victories both on and off the field.
- "The Simbot Effect" - A map of all those who have been touched by our outreach programs. Learn the potential effect of your own roadmap. (This is an archived document. It was created during the 2008 season. Some of the information in this document may be out of date.)
"The Roadmap To Success" - A detailed roadmap to success, discussing our history of inspiring culture change. (This is an archived document. It was created during the 2008 season. Some of the information in this document may be out of date.)
- "Textbook For Success" - Workshops for the benefit of all FIRST teams.
Chairman's Submission
This is an archived essay. It was used as the Chairman's Award submission for the 2009 season. Some of the information in this document may be out of date.
Simbotics receives the Chairman's Award at the Greater Toronto Regional.
Governor Simcoe SS and GM St. Catharines Powertrain, Team 1114 – Simbotics, knows that “the greatest victories in life don’t always happen on the field.” In 2008, Simbotics won the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship Event, a victory deemed by many to be the greatest in team history, but the members of the Simbot family know the victory is a small event in a much bigger picture. To truly grasp why this is not our greatest victory, one needs to look at the “Big Picture;” the story of the entire team’s journey on our mission. If “The Big Picture” was a movie, it would start at the very beginning - 2002, when Team 1114 began our journey towards culture change, helping create a world where science and technology are celebrated, furthering the mission of FIRST.
Helping FIRST grow has always been central to the Simbot mission. Over the past 5 years, 1114 has founded and mentored 7 rookie teams. When starting teams, our focus is to create a solid foundation, allowing teams to become self-sufficient in the future. Our rookie teams have achieved sustained, great success, both on the field and in their communities. In a 3 year span, over 20% of the rookie teams to make the elimination rounds in Atlanta were started by Simbotics. This year we have added two new rookie teams, 2809 and 2852, as well as mentoring 2702, however, our support of the FIRST community expands far beyond the teams we directly mentor. The ‘Simbot Effect’ has reached hundreds of teams across North America.
Partnership; Team 1114 students, mentors and sponsors, including GM Vice President and FIRST Board of Directors member, Tom Stephens, celebrating the 2008 Championship Event victory
The ‘Simbot Effect’ is driven by our “textbook for success,” providing a model for teams to follow to achieve success in FIRST. Our TFS includes 7 FIRST related seminars created by our team on a diverse set of topics that are regularly presented across Ontario and are available online for use by the general FIRST community. Part of this TFS is the use of collaborative development models. In 2005, when we started teams 1503 and 1680, we developed a sophisticated method of collaboration between our teams to efficiently utilize resources. Upon publicizing these methods, there have been 11 follow-up collaborations throughout FIRST that cite 1114 as a major influence in their decision.
This year, 1114 was selected by FIRST to represent Canada as a beta test team for the new control system. FIRST selected our team based on our history of supporting the FIRST community and technical expertise. Detailed presentations were designed and delivered during a daylong seminar to make the transition process for Canadian teams easier. This was a great success with 33 teams attending, 70% of all Canadian teams within a two hour drive of our shop.
To create the “Big Picture,” we open our doors to share resources available to our team. This year, Team 2166 built their robot in our shop with our guidance. We have forged many long distance partnerships with teams, offering design advice and manufacturing of parts. Another resource we share is a practice facility provided to us by our school board.
The Simbots go primetime; Team 1114 with the cast of “Degrassi: The Next Generation” after a long day on set. Episodes featuring the team aired world wide in November 2008
1114 supports FRC by volunteering at and helping run events. This year at the Waterloo Regional, our team will be represented by 10 volunteers, filling key positions. Two of our mentors are on the planning committees for the Waterloo and Greater Toronto Regionals. In 2006, our team ran the tremendously successful Canada’s Wonderland off season event, with 20 teams attending.
We also are committed to the growth of FIRST in our area through the development of the FLL program. 1114 established the FLL Niagara Regional in 2005, and help make this event a success through mentoring local teams, providing game tables and volunteers for all aspects of the event. Our school board has committed to purchasing 1 Lego kit per school, allowing the FLL program to continue to flourish.
Another pillar of our program is VEX Robotics. This summer our team ran a VEX summer camp at the University of Waterloo in conjunction with Shad Valley. High school students from across Canada participated in this workshop, learning engineering principles while building VEX robots for a FIRST like competition. This fall we hosted a VEX competition which featured 27 teams from across Ontario and Michigan. Within our own school board, we have led the implementation of VEX robotics into technology curriculum.
Community involvement is a key part of the “Big Picture”. We have been involved in many charitable efforts, including food drives and fundraising for World Vision, Mike’s Miracles and Relay for Life. We get our community involved with FIRST through robot demonstrations. One exciting demo took place at the kickoff of a Hamilton Ti-Cats football game. Over 20,000 fans were treated to seeing Simbot SS up close and in person. Other demo locales include City Hall, the city mall, our school board head office, Touch-A-Truck at Niagara College and Tim Horton’s camp day.
Inspiration & Recognition; Team 1114 with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty at the Premier's Innovation Awards ceremony
Governor Simcoe used to be known as the sports school in St. Catharines. We have changed that reputation by shifting the culture within the school to recognize the importance of science and technology. Since 2004, school enrolment has increased by 26% - a significant amount considering the aging demographic of St. Catharines has caused a decline in enrolment of surrounding schools. Our school board has directly attributed this jump to the technology shift created by the team. The introduction of the Manufacturing High Skills Major program confirmed this culture change. When we won the Championship Event the school hosted a ceremony to recognize the team’s achievements; in attendance were the entire student body, sponsors, city hall officials, MP and MPP. Through this recognition our team was invited to the Premier’s Innovation Awards where we met with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
Our robotics program has profoundly changed the lives of students on our team. Without it, many of our students would not have access to professional role models. Through our “Big Simbot, Little Simbot” program, we provide students with one on one interaction with their Big Simbot mentor. Each student gains a role model and friend, someone to provide help, whether it be personal, robot or school-related. This program creates lasting bonds between students and mentors and has significantly increased students’ GPAs and pursuit of post-secondary education. These bonds are strengthened through effective team communication. A series of Google groups creates a network to manage information flow between the team, sub-teams, mentors and parents. Improved communication has increased parent involvement and student awareness of current team projects.
The current economic downturn has profoundly affected St. Catharines. General Motors, the team’s title sponsor, drives our city’s economy. Our team felt the immediate impact of this downturn, with lessened support from many local sponsors. Despite this, we were able to change our funding strategy gaining smaller donations from more local companies. Additional funds were raised by various local raffles, while spreading the word of FIRST in our community. GM has continued both financial and mentor support this year despite their current situation, demonstrating the impact of the program on the company. In the past 7 years our local plant has hired 11 FIRST alumni for internships, including two 1114 alumni. GM has used FIRST to educate new high potential employees in project management, allowing employees to be trained in a low risk environment while team members gain expertise from professional mentors.
Simbotics turning heads again; In the summer of 2008, Team 1114 was introduced to 20,000 screaming fans at a Canadian Football League game
Many teams only get the opportunity to inspire generations after them, but we were given the opportunity to inspire the generation before us. In June 2007 we helped design and run a VEX tournament for 150 executives from Maple Leaf Foods at John Abele’s Kingbridge Centre. The event taught core values of FIRST, gracious professionalism and co-opertition using a scoring system that encouraged teams to work together while remaining competitive. 1114 members acted as mentors to the executives by providing strategic and technical advice. We were able to witness the spirit of FIRST capture the hearts of the executives just as it has captured the hearts of all members of 1114.
A large part of the “Big Picture” is media coverage. This year we were featured on many national newscasts, such as Canada AM and CTV National News, as well as stories on CHCH and Discovery Channel’s Daily Planet. Camera crews and reporters from our local cable station attended kickoff with us, filming a piece introducing the 2009 FRC season. In print we had a cover story in Plant magazine, as well many articles in newspapers and major news websites.
To capture the attention of the masses, innovative methods of spreading the message of FIRST are necessary. We have engaged in many unique efforts, but none more so than the partnership we forged this summer with the television show “Degrassi: The Next Generation.” DTNG is the most popular Canadian teen drama, and is seen worldwide. The team met with show producers to explain what FIRST is about, and they were so captivated they decided to film an entire storyline about a high school robotics team. One of our mentors consulted for the show, helping write and develop the scripts. The episodes featured four past 1114 robots in the filming, as well as 10 students. These episodes were watched by over a million teens, giving FIRST an unprecedented level of exposure.
"The Big Picture" thus far has been a tremendous success, however what differentiates our movie from the multitude of others out there is that our story never ends. We still have the same drive now as we did back in 2002 to change the world into one that celebrates science and technology, to help our students on their voyages of self-discovery and to spread the word of FIRST through ever more innovative and powerful means. After all, “the greatest victories in life don’t always happen on the field.”
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