When it comes to the STEM topics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, most experts insist on the importance of getting students interested and engaged at an early age.
STEM jobs are often high paying and are always looking for young minds to enter the fields.
At Dodd Middle School, a new crop of students is using “the force” of creativity and innovation to make their mark in the world of STEM. In fact, these “knights” used their skills to grab first place at the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge State Championship on Dec. 11.
Dodd Middle School’s Jedi Knights team, named after the famed “Star Wars” heroes, is composed of five students — Auritro Dasgupta, Lekhan Nair, Rishi Hedge, Shreyas Illindala, and Yashovardhan Biswas — who have been together since 2019. The group is led by their two coaches, Shweta Hedge and Bivash Dasgupta.
The team competed in the FLL Challenge at Glastonbury High School, which required participants to complete various missions in an effort to build a LEGO robot within two and a half minutes.
The “knights” competed against 36 other teams to claim the top prize.
“I have loved LEGO since I was a kid and am also interested in coding,” Dasgupta explained. “Being on this team allowed me to build and program our own automated robot using LEGO Technic pieces. I also got to learn about real world challenges in cargo transportation. And during all these competitions, I also learned how to get over problems as a team and how we could use each other’s strengths.”
The challenge also required the students to use the current supply chain issue exacerbated by COVID-19 as one of the challenges, to devise innovative ways of addressing such a problem.
“The team registers to participate in FLL between April and August of any given year,” explained Dasgupta. “In spring, FLL publishes the season topic. This year’s topic was announced as ‘Cargo Connect,’ however, what exactly is behind it remains a secret until early August. At the FLL kick-off event in August, the teams find out which tasks they have to accomplish in the Robot Game and what the research project topic is. For example, the topic for this year was ‘Ways to Improve Cargo Transportation.’”
The Jedi Knights created trackable, lightweight, foldable shipping containers that help address container imbalance issues in supply chain logistics. The containers reduce fuel consumption and the overall carbon footprint.
“(We were in) a complete state of disbelief when we learned that we had won,” added Coach Hedge. “Especially considering the fact that we were competing against some seriously seasoned teams.”
The Jedi Knights have been close friends since 2019, with each member crediting the group for strengthening their knowledge of STEM as well as their personal friendships.
“I liked that we got to learn new types of robot codes and also that I got to have fun with my friends,” Biswas said. “We’ve become great friends — we have sleepovers, parties, get-togethers. It’s been so fun to work together with my friends.”
“We’ve known each other since fourth grade. That’s when we came up with the name for our team. We all really liked Star Wars then,” added Nair.
Now, the Jedi Knights will take their talents and friendships to the next level, to Houston, Texas, for the World Championship on April 20th.
“We are so excited to go — we have never been to Texas before,” gushed Hegde. “We’re nervous, but ready! Go Cheshire!”
