South East Valley Engineering and Robotics E-nitiative (SEVERE)

Vital Stats

SEVERE E

Queen Creek, AZ

  • people helped50
  • People Doing It15

The Problem

SEVERE isn't focused on solving one particular problem: the beauty of FIRST is that through the program, we learn how to solve a multitude of problems. At competition, winning the robot tournament is half the battle: science and technology help us to accomplish this portion, as designing, building, and programming a robot requires at least some knowledge of math, physics, engineering, and computers. However, the other half of the competition is based upon team conduct: and is even seen to be more prestigious than the robot tournament. Community service, Gracious Professionalism, and Coopertition (cooperative competition) are all aspects of FIRST that hold its participants to not only have a quality robot, but to have a quality team. The true purpose of our team is to inspire others to discover their potential and act on it, thus increasing the number of teens coming out of our area that have the initiative to succeed.

Plan of Action

In the summer of 2010, five students dedicated 1-2 days a week in a cramped library study room, setting up a community-based FIRST Robotics team. Their school team, without a mentor or many potential members, seemed a dead end. Not wanting the program to fade from the community, the Founders' Committee, as they named themselves, formed what is now SEVERE, finding adult mentors in FIRST alumni and gathering members (and funding) through advertisements and local partnerships. At the 2011 competition, SEVERE made it to semifinals in the robot competition, and took home the Rookie Inspiration award. Now in its second year, the program remains strong, and plans to top last year's accomplishments by focusing on increased community service, garnering more recognition for the FIRST program, and inspiring as many children as possible to find the initiative to succeed.
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