2008 National Chairman's Award: Who will be THE ONE?

[RoboMadi]

There hasn't been any discussion/prediction regarding 2008 Chairman's Award Winner; so I thought I'll start one.
So who do you think will take the crown this year and be the one to enter Hall of Fame?
This year is full of fresh Chairman's Award Winners, while at the same time there are some veterans coming back to the arena. Any underdogs? Possible. Some of the first timers have a strong submission and have won over strong teams. For Example, 1086 won at NASA/VCU (I'm mentioning them because I know more about the regional and how competitive it was for Chairman's Award).
On the other hand, we have some strong veterans coming back (842, 236, 234, 1108, 159, 341).

Here's my prediction:

In past years, teams with one time Regional Chairman's Award has taken away the crown, while at the same time teams with several Regional Chairman's Awards. I think it depends solely on the quality instead of quantity. Bottom line: Team that stands different in its own way and have impacted their community the most, while getting recognized with awards and media at the same time.
My picks for this year are Team 842 (their submission speaks it all), 236 (6th Regional Chairman's Award Winner), 234 (they probably have 3+ trophy cases by now), 341 (Probably one of the most hardworking AND deserving team I know), 1114 (Celebrity Robot, Celebrity Team, and Numerous Awards, you can do the math), and 340 (Strong team with strong submission).
And if you ask me to pick one, I'm gonna tie it between 236 and 842.

Here's a little math to help you guys out.

Six RCAs Winners: 236
Five RCAs Winners: None
Four RCAs Winner: 842, 234, 1108, 159, 341
Three RCAs Winner: 71, 340, 812, 612, 27
Two RCAs Winner: 604, 399, 476, 1114, 359, 1398, 126
First RCA Winners: 1676, 1318, 932, 1429, 1086, 768, 1523, 291, 1714, 1860, 488, 692, 226, 1577, 364, 839, 68, 1547, 987, 1816, 329, 116

Please let me know if I missed out on anyone. (I'll add the NYC Chairman's Award Winner to this thread as soon as we know tomorrow. Yes, i just can't wait )

Imad A.

[RoboMadi]

Upon request from Chris Flultz (234)

History of Teams with Multiple RCA's win:

Six RCAs Winner:
236 - 2003 NH, 2004/2005/2006/2007/2008 CT

Four RCAs Winners:
842 - 2005/2006/2007/2008 AZ
234 - 2003 AZ, 2004 IL, 2007 IN, 2008 BO
1108 - 2004/2008 TX, 2005 IN, 2006 WI
159 - 2002 WA, 2006/2007/2008 CO
341 - 2003/2004/2008 PA, 2005 MD

Three RCAs Winners:
71 - 2006 MO, 2007/2008 IL
340 - 2005/2006/2008 ROC=Finger Lakes
812 - 2005/2006 CA, 2008 SDC
612 - 2006 MD, 2007 VA, 2008 OH
27 - 2004 GL, 2007 MI, 2008 DT

Two RCAs Winners:
604 - 2007/2008 ST
399 - 2007/2008 CA
476 - 2007 OK, 2008 KS
1114 - 2006/2008 WAT
359 - 2003 SJ, 2008 HI
398 - 2006/2008 SC
126 - 2007 MA, 2008 NH

Imad

PS please inform me regarding any errors

[Andrew Schreiber]

RUSH is a Three Time RCA winner (2004 Ypsi)

My prediction, the ONE will be from the Midwest... course, I could be biased to my alma mater... I can say they have one amazing program. I'm not sure what the number is now but I know we used to be at 25% of our school was ON the team. Sadly I haven't been able to get a copy of their stuff this year to read and I'm curious as to all they've done.

Congrats to all the teams who won RCA and best of luck at the Championships.

[Valley Raider]

Wow i never realized that there were teams that have one 4+ RCA's. I don't think that anyone can really predict a winner. The presentation counts for so much that it going to be really hard to pick a favorite.

[s_forbes]

I'm rooting for Carl Hayden. The things they do are truely amazing and unique!

That said, I've never seen what the other teams have done, so I can't make a very good prediction on the winner. (but I can hope...)

[Nuttyman54]

Team 126, Gael Force, is a two time RCA, having won it in Boston last year and Manchester this year.

[smurfgirl]

Before I even read your post, I was thinking that the Techno Ticks make a strong candidate with their six regional wins- I'm glad to see you agree. I guess I have a bias since I know a lot about them since they're from my home state, but they do make themselves very visible. Six RCA's certainly says something about their team, and I think it's time for them to win a well-deserved National Chairman's Award.

[OZ_341]

Well I can only refer to those programs that I have had direct contact with. I know for sure that 236, 612, 359, 1676, 768, 488, and 1816 all run awesome teams. Many of the others I have watched from afar and been in awe of what they do. (71, 27, ....)
All of these teams are truly changing the culture.

I just told my team....

"You are only in high school and you have built an incredible robot with your own hands. You have inspired your community and also yourselves to change the future. And more importantly you see now that changing the future is possible. You have already won!"

I am sure this can easily be said about every RCA team on the list.

Congratulations to all of the RCA winners and good luck at the Championships both on and off of the field!

Al Ostrow

[AndyB]

1816 has a good shot at it this year. I think they have an even better chance next year after hearing about how many Minnesota teams there will be.

2 years ago - 2 teams
This year - 54 teams

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by RoboMadi

I think it depends solely on the quality instead of quantity. Bottom line: Team that stands different in its own way and have impacted their community the most, while getting recognized with awards and media at the same time.

......
341 (Probably one of the most hardworking AND deserving team I know),

I completely agree on both points: It is not how many RCAs you've amassed, but the quality of your submission that year.

And 341 is even known in New Jersey.

[RyanCesiel]

I think it's going to be RUSH, just a strong feeling.

[Cartwright]

With the shear mass of teams that FIRST has now, and the growing number of strongly established teams, I think that certain things that teams do become less and less important. For instance, so many teams have started FRC, FLL and FTC teams, that that task does not look as unique. I think that the winner will not only have to be a team that has won a lot and has done a lot, but that team has to have done something really unique that has many/large effects. I look around different teams' websites and I see that many teams give demonstrations, start new teams, talk to community leaders, participate in charities, etc.; and all those things are good, but I think that the National winner will be a team that has purposefully done something huge, and so far I haven't heard anything that really is hugely impressive from any team. I don't know...does anyone have anything like that? It will be interesting to find out at Atlanta. Of course...maybe it will be a team that has simply amassed task upon task, doing a little at a time to build up an awesome resume. It certainly seems like several of the RCAs have impressive histories. There's a lot of competition this year.

[deshirider430]

I wonder if Looking Forward has any thoughts on this topic

[feliks_rosenber]

With the shear mass of teams that FIRST has now, and the growing number of strongly established teams, I think that certain things that teams do become less and less important. For instance, so many teams have started FRC, FLL and FTC teams, that that task does not look as unique. I think that the winner will not only have to be a team that has won a lot and has done a lot, but that team has to have done something really unique that has many/large effects. I look around different teams' websites and I see that many teams give demonstrations, start new teams, talk to community leaders, participate in charities, etc.; and all those things are good, but I think that the National winner will be a team that has purposefully done something huge, and so far I haven't heard anything that really is hugely impressive from any team. I don't know...does anyone have anything like that? It will be interesting to find out at Atlanta. Of course...maybe it will be a team that has simply amassed task upon task, doing a little at a time to build up an awesome resume. It certainly seems like several of the RCAs have impressive histories. There's a lot of competition this year.

Well team 2669 KY Bots has done many unique things.
We are a rookie team from Israel but we believe that we have managed to achieve many great things.

You can read the pdf file of the submission, it is attached to the post.



Unfortunately we will not be in Atlanta.

We have won the Rookie Inspiration Award which does not grant participation according to the criteria..

But you are still welcome to read and get impression of our accomplishments.

[Pjohn1959]

With all that team 1108 has done with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and how that has been used to bring in 40 new teams to the FIRST community, they have a great chance to be the ONE. They also have a quality presentation. It s no wonder they have 4 RCA's.