Shrewsbury FLL Robotics Team Heading to World-Open Championships

Congratulations Team CyberSquad!

Let's meet the members, who are all students from Sherwood Middle School and Oak Middle School:
Cullen Bautista, Vaibhav Vinodhkumar, Cayleigh Bautista, Priyanshu Chakraborty, Daksh Shrivastava, and Abel Mathew.

The team's success from their ability to blend technical expertise with collaborative spirit has earned them the prestigious Champions Award during the 2024-2025 MA West FLL Challenge State Championship held at WPI on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. Additionally, there are more than 430 teams all over the state of Massachusetts who competed this year, and the CyberSquad is one of the select few teams that earned their spot to advance to the World/Open tournaments.

The judges recognized their skills in building and coding, robot design, and innovation project. They appreciated their creativity in developing engaging presentations, their hard work, and collaboration.

As one of the recipients of the Champions Award, the CyberSquad's journey continues, earning the opportunity to advance to the next level of play and is eligible to join one of the following Worldwide Competitions:
1. FLL World Festival - Houston, TX joining FTC and FRC Championships
2. Western Edge Open - Long Beach, CA featuring 90 teams
3. WAFFLE - WPI Worcester, MA featuring 108 teams from around the world
4. Florida Sunshine Invitational - Daytona Beach, FL featuring 96 teams from around the world

In this year's FLL 'SUBMERGED' season, the team has demonstrated an exceptional commitment, determination and passion in the FIRST Lego League Challenge with their technical skills. Their dedication extends beyond genuine love for learning and acquiring knowledge, they foster commitment by sharing ideas and lots of fun to our younger community. This team taught the young Cub Scouts about the fundamentals of FLL and how to become an FLL contestant, but most importantly, how rewarding it is to experience a journey such as the one the CyberSquad went through.

For the CyberSquad, returning this year comes with a lot of determination after coming up short of winning an award during their rookie year last season during the State's competition.

With the mission to fulfill the unfinished business that this team left behind, the well-motivated CyberSquad started great this season by joining and consistently winning First Place in multiple scrimmages that they attended.

In addition to receiving the Champions Award, the team received recognitions by winning First Place in the Innovation Project and a Coach/Mentor Award during their Regional/Qualifier competition last Dec. 7, 2024.

During their journey, the CyberSquad presented remarkable commitment to balancing their academic responsibilities with their passion for robotics by developing strong time management. They created structured schedules that allowed them to excel both in school and in the FLL Challenge, reflecting a mature understanding of balancing personal interests with educational obligations, setting a strong example for young STEM enthusiasts.

"This is a well-motivated, hardworking, talented, well-disciplined, and smart team. In fact, members of this team belong to honor classes in school," according to their coaches.

For the CyberSquad, they invested significant time and energy into their robotics project and have shown that young innovators can achieve extraordinary results through passion, persistence, and teamwork.

Clearly, this squad of champions known as the CyberSquad has not just built a robot but has built a strong and solid foundation for future technological advancements.

Let's go CyberSquad!