Natick Robotics Team Moves On To State Competition

NATICK, MA- A small group of Natick teens are celebrating a big win. The LightSpeed robotics team competed in a FIRST Tech Challenge qualifier in December. They ranked first among 23 teams and were named the Winning Team Alliance Captains and won the competition's design award--advancing them to the state competition on Mar. 2 at Natick High School.

For those who aren't so tech-savvy, FIRST is a not-for-profit STEM engagement program for kids. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. The organization offers programs and competitions in robotics and other STEM fields.

The LightSpeed team is a private team started by a group of Natick High School teens with the help of their parents. The team consists of two juniors and one freshman, Brianna Sahagian, Adham Abji and Noah Abji. Both Brianna and Adham were a part of the high school robotics team for two years.

Adham was the driving force in branching out to form an independent group, bringing the idea to his parents, who offered their full support and funding. "He really just wanted more time to really dive into his love for robotics," said Gopa Mukherjee, Adham's mother. Finding that time while in a school club can be tough, so Adham decided to dedicate his free time to creating LightSpeed.

With the help of his younger brother, Noah, and their teammate Brianna, Adham was able to build his perfect team. While Adham has always had a passion for building and robotics, Brianna took it upon herself to take on the challenge of learning to code. The teens worked hours on end building and programming their robot, sometimes up to 15 hours a week.

With qualifiers out of the way, the hard work doesn't stop. To prepare for the March competition, the team is revising its robot to make sure it's ready to win again. "We look at things that didn't work as well and how other teams' robots did," Adham said.

Between all three of the teens having AP classes and responsibilities at school and at home, it's been a long and busy road to their victory, but they're excited to make it to the state competition and join their Natick High School peers in a friendly competition.

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Photo Credit: Gopa Mukherjee