Nechako students secure 6th place at national robotics competition

The Nechako Robotics team, composed of Jacob Davey and Matthew Illyushchenko, achieved a commendable sixth-place finish at the Montreal Zone01 National Robotics competition.

Competing on May 27 under the team name “Bender,” after the robot character in the TV series Futurama, the duo earned 110 points out of a possible 130.

Despite being only nine and eight years old respectively, Davey and Illyushchenko faced off against students as old as 12 from across Canada.

Each boy was accompanied by a parent for the journey, with Davey’s father also serving as a co-coach.

Nechako robotics coach and Grade 3 teacher, Tom Wilkinson, expressed his pride in the young team. “I’m incredibly proud of these two boys. They worked hard over four months to earn the chance to represent Kitimat at the national level. They spent many lunch hours improving their code and rebuilding their robot after their success at the Kitimat regional competition,” he shared.

The annual competition challenges students to build and program a robot capable of completing various tasks, such as using an arm to capture and move pieces on a large playing surface.

Zone01 Robotics, a not-for-profit organization, spearheads regional competitions across Canada with four main objectives of promoting technology in education to boost student retention, supporting teachers in integrating robotics into their curriculum, facilitating interaction among robotics enthusiasts and developing competitive robotics platforms nationally.

At a recent Zone01 competition in Kitimat April 21, Davey placed first in a similar category, and Illyuschenko, with his teammate Cruz Lopez, placed second.