2014 Tech Valley Regional

[JackS]

Wow, what an event! I'd like to extend my congratulations to the Regional Planning Committee (Paul Schoch, Mary Burke, Rose Barra, Nancy Castler, and Ana Martinez, just to name a few) for organizing what was unequivocally the best regional I have ever attended. I'd also like to thank all of the volunteers who made the event happen, especially those who kept the matches on time and controversy free (including the FTA Liz Smith.) In a year when pedestal errors and field faults are the norm, having a replay-free regional was a remarkable feat. I can't wait to come back and do it all again next year.

That being said, congratulations to the champions 1126, 20, and 229; the winners of the Chairman's Award 340; and the winners of the Engineering Inspiration award 1511. You all earned it and good luck in St. Louis.

We're looking forward to making some repairs (boy does our robot need them) and heading to the Finger Lakes Regional in a few weeks. Hopefully the defense there will be a little friendlier to our claw.

[Johnnybukkel]

This was a wonderful event. For an inaugural event, it was really well organized, it flowed smoothly every second, and certainly felt like it was an event that was around for much longer than three days. I'd like to thank the volunteers for their hard work to produce a flawless regional for us to compete in. I'd like to congratulate teams 250, 3990, and 145 for a great display of skill both on and off of the field; it was certainly a blast playing against them! Also, team 340 for earning the Chairman's Award, and 1511 for Engineering Inspiration. I hope to see this regional be available for teams to compete in for many years to come, and wish everyone the best of luck in future regionals!

[Kevin Leonard]

Wow. What an amazing event.
First off I'd like to thank all the volunteers that made this event possible. I'd also like to thank Frank Merrick for coming and seeing what the capital region is made of!
The event was run so smoothly. The only problem (and I think quite a few team had this problem on Thursday) was the balls being slightly over-inflated throughout, but I think everyone learned to deal with that and it taught us some lessons about how to design an intake.
The referees were consistent and fair, and despite the match-killer tech fouls being still prevalent, the referees called them evenly and according to the rules.

We were taught a lesson on Friday about our catching mechanism (that it sometimes catches too well), and we learned from that too. (I encourage every team to find some way to prevent the ball from falling from the sky into your robot).

Thanks to Team 1126 Sparx for selecting us and forming that crazy alliance. Your cannon is absolutely frightening, and I can't wait to see you guys at FLR!
Thanks to Team 229 Division by Zero for your crazy drivetrain and passing abilities. With your collector fixed for elims, you were the perfect third partner for us!

Congratulations to Team 340 on your RCA. You guys have an extremely professional team and a consistent robot. We hope to see you guys go farther in elims at Finger Lakes.

Congrats to Team 1511 on your Engineering Inspiration Award. You guys had a great robot and one of the smartest drive teams in the whole arena. Your spirit and professionalism filled every room you were in. "I believe that Robots Rock!" We'll see you at Finger lakes as well!

Congratulations to the finalist alliance of 250, 3990, and 145. The instant your alliance came together I knew you'd be one of the toughest alliances in the place.
250's half-match T-Bone on 1126 shut us down for Finals-1, and made us very afraid for what could happen in Finals-2.
3990 had one of the best shooters in the place and a downright gorgeous robot. I only wish you could have played in Finals at full strength.
145's hammer was making shots all day, and their smart drivers knew how to skid around defense with their mecanum drive.
Good luck to 3990 in Quebec, and we'll see 250 at Finger Lakes!

Congratulations to Team 5030, The Second Mouse, on your Rookie All-Star Award. Your smart strategy took you all the way to a number one seed and two smart picks. We'll see you at Championships!

One last shout-out and that's to the Rookie Inspiration Award winners of 5236, Man-O-War Robotics. Besides building an incredible robot for rookies and making an impressive showing in eliminations, they also had an extremely professional team who really "got" the spirit of FIRST in their rookie year. They also had an extremely smart drive team who was fantastic to work with. They delivered on everything they could have, and be ready for them to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.

[Dominick Ferone]

I would like to say on behalf of team 5030 all the kids loved the event. We had a lot of fun and all the teams, refs, judges and volunteers were so inviting and helpful. We did really well and there were many great bots. To everyone going to FLR i wish all of you luck and to everyone going to st louis can't wait to see you there. For now were gonna work on getting the offensive side of our bot going and making the drive train better. ( during the quarter finals we lost all power and speed while moving i think we blew a cim.) Can't wait to go back to nytv next year.

[Jonathan Ryan]

Don't want to repeat everything above….but, AWESOME regional, fantastic volunteers, great judges, referees and field staff!!!!
With Angry Eric as an MC, we have been to the Finals two years in a row. He may be Team 145's good luck charm.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Great to see the rookie teams doing so well. Nice to see some old friends from FLR and make some new ones from other states and countries.

Congrats to 1126, 20 and 229. Super alliance, excellent strategy, flawless execution.

Thanks to 250 and 3990 for adding 145 to your alliance. I think we made the Finals pretty exciting!!!

Good luck to everybody competing in another regional or going on to St. Louis.

Already looking forward to the New York Tech Valley Regional next year.

[Starke]

The Arctic Warriors had a wonderful time at the inaugural NY Tech Valley Regional! Congratulations and thank you to the Regional Planning Committee for creating this event. The regional ran smoothly and efficiently.

Thank you to the referees, FTA, and volunteers. It was such a pleasure to watch the referees and FTA patiently work through any problems that arose and talk to all students kindly that had a question on the match. The volunteers also worked with the teams well and directed teams where to go with a smile at all times.

Thank you to teams 3044 and 2228 for partnering with us in eliminations. It was a hard fought battle and it was a pleasure working with the both of you!

Congratulations to the Regional Champions 1126, 20, and 229, Chairman's Award winner 340, and Engineering Inspiration award winner 1511. It was wonderful to work with you throughout the competition.

Overall we had a wonderful time! Looking forward to coming back in the future!

[Larry Lewis]

Originally Posted by Thunder910

Congrats to Team 1511 on your Engineering Inspiration Award. You guys had a great robot and one of the smartest drive teams in the whole arena. Your spirit and professionalism filled every room you were in. "I believe that Robots Rock!" We'll see you at Finger lakes as well!

Thank you Thunder910, for the kind words. We were really honored to receive Engineering Inspiration this year. Also, thank you for the comment on our drive team. I know our students spend a lot of time analyzing the game and coming up with strategies. They were happy to see your comment and to know that people appreciate their efforts.

Congratulations to the winning alliance of 1126, 20, and 229! Not only were you a great alliance but you were very gracious for taking a time out when we needed to fix a robot on our alliance.

Also congratulations to all the teams that won awards this weekend!

Congratulations to 340 on their Chairman's Award win!

[colin340]

Super cool event great teams, great people.

my only complaint:

The place was too small for the number of teams there, and the event is only going to grow.