Successful Annual Nemesis Engineering Day

As we begin to prepare for the upcoming season, Robbinsville’s FIRST Robotics Team, Nemesis, hosted its annual Nemesis Engineering Day. Spanning two days and four different sessions, the half-day day camp resulted in overwhelmingly positive feedback. Students entered their sessions eager to learn and ready to build.

Nemesis had the goal of educating Robbinsville’s youth on civil engineering through engaging challenges while also maintaining a friendly environment for everyone. The campers were paired in groups of two or three and assigned a high school mentor to support them while they constructed a straw bridge designed to support heavy weights. Shweta Raman, who’s in her first year on Nemesis, noted “They partnered up and got to work with a lot of excitement and passion.”

Similar to being a professional civil engineer, the students innovated in hopes of surpassing the requirements. Specifically, each team needed to enhance a truss bridge’s design in order to hold the most weight. Nemesis photographer, Madhu Seshadri, exclaimed, “Taking photos of the students’ concentrated and determined faces was so much fun. They were all so nice!”

Efficiency and quality were major factors in how each team placed on the leaderboard. Ritika Bhatnagar, a freshman, acknowledged the resilience of her campers saying, “Even though the students came in last place, instead of giving up, they wanted to do better.” Such feelings were not uncommon to the campers, all of them did their best.

Students enjoyed a virtual simulated bridge design program, a demonstration of the NAO Robot, and driving Nemesis’ 2018 award winning competition robot, Fury. These demonstrations ignited campers’ passions for STEAM and resulted in rave reviews.

Nemesis Engineering Day provided a great learning experience for the campers. The weekend was an overwhelming success allowing Nemesis team members not only the opportunity to spread the FIRST message and their love of STEAM, but also to raise funds to support Nemesis Cares and Shares, Nemesis’ community outreach programs.

Thank you to all that attended! We hope to see you next year!

Nemesis would like to thank their sponsors: Navair, Robbinsville High School, Picatinny Arsenal, Lockheed Martin, DoDStem, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CCL Label, Investors Foundation, New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Robbinsville Education Association, Sharbell Development, RAS, Robbinsville Education Foundation, Princeton Sports and Family Medicine, EAG Laboratories, DesignTree, CCC, Gilbane, Triangle Copy, SkyLink Technology, Coldwell Bankers, and the family and friends of Nemesis.