HURRICANE — For a team that has been officially organized for just three years, winning a statewide competition and earning the chance to compete on a global stage is an impressive achievement.
But for the Hurricane-based Team Without A Cool Acronym, it’s all in a year’s work.
In fact, TWCA (as team members affectionately label themselves) previously has qualified for the world championship of the FIRST Tech Challenge multiple times despite its relatively short history.
TWCA’s latest victory came at the FTC Utah Championship held at Southern Utah University. On Jan. 29, after competing against 35 other teams in the robot games and presenting their portfolio to a panel of judges, TWCA earned the Inspire Award for all-around excellence and qualified for the 2022 FIRST Championship April 20-23 in Houston, Texas.
“Getting to the world championship has been a dream of mine for awhile, and we’ve actually qualified for it about four times and every time it’s been canceled,” Team Captain Kate Hummel said. “We spend all our time for a whole year working on a little robot, and we’re really excited to showcase it.”
Alex Bracken, a co-captain and senior at Hurricane High School, said the central principles of the FIRST Tech Challenge in which the team competes set it apart from other robotics competitions in meaningful ways.
“Unlike a lot of other robotics competitions that you might have heard of, such as BattleBots VEX, FIRST is judged from a much more holistic view,” he said. “You’re not so much a group of teenagers getting together building a robot – you have to function a lot like a business. It’s all about building an effective and efficient robot as well as properly marketing your team, raising funds, connecting with the community and helping out those around you.”
Competing in FIRST
Organized by the nonprofit FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), the tech challenge is equal parts engineering and community engagement.
This year, the central robot game around which teams designed their machines focused on gathering and delivering small objects of various sizes and shapes to scoring areas. The so-called Freight Frenzy challenge paired teams to compete in groups of four, encouraging ambitious teams to foster trust with their would-be competitors.
“I have learned so much about communicating with people this season,” said Codi Krogh, a first-year competitor. “Generally, I’m an introverted and shy person, but being on the team I kind of have to talk with everyone, contact sponsors and learn all sorts of new things. It’s just been so useful in my life.”
In addition to honing social skills at competitions, team members partner with local businesses, engineering professionals and mentors to raise funds and seek advice in designing their robot. The team has consulted with professionals at Tesla, Ram Aviation, dB Systems and more.
All team members said their grasp of science, technology, engineering and math has increased substantially – even if they had no prior passion for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).
While some team members specialize in areas of greatest interest, they each share responsibilities and mentor each another in all the fields of expertise that FIRST fosters, including engineering, programming, marketing, budgeting, graphic design and interpersonal skills.
The portfolio that teams present to earn the Inspire Award or recognition in several judged competitions relates to these principles, both in terms of the robot’s construction and operation as well as community outreach efforts. TWCA extends its influence and mentorship to other FIRST teams and even younger children coming up in the robotics world.
“We’ve helped mentor teams at different elementary schools in the area, and it’s been really fun to see them grow as people in the STEM community and see them get excited about robots,” said Brooke Jacob, a graduating senior with two years of team experience. “We’ve also volunteered at competitions as referees and judges, and it’s just really exciting to see kids get involved.”
TWCA members combined for 1,197 hours of volunteer and community outreach hours in the ongoing season, impacting an estimated 23,914 people, according to the team portfolio.
Team History
Formed in 2019 from a core group of Hummel siblings and their friends, TWCA draws from three high schools and has grown to include nine members: Teslyn Hummel, Calvin Hummel, Kate Hummel, Brooke Jacob, Codi Krogh, Madi Bringhurst, Alex Bracken, Jed Johnson and Gerrod Nelson.
The team name pays homage to the animated television show “Phineas and Ferb,” which follows a pair of young inventors and their pet platypus Perry.
In the series, Perry the Platypus is a secret agent for the Organization Without a Cool Acronym, or OWCA. The Hurricane youth team has built a strong friendship with Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, one of the co-creators of Phineas and Ferb, and pays further tribute to the show in the robot’s name (the Perry-inator), their uniforms and the fedoras worn at competitions.
TWCA has earned grants through local universities and was organized through the Utah State University 4-H program. Paul Hill, director of Washington County Extension, said the county 4-H program has been eager to help the TWCA since its inception.
“Ultimately, our focus is improving the wellbeing of our communities, and a way to do that is making sure that people have jobs they love and that are needed in our economy,” Hill said. “We’re getting people involved in science, technology, engineering and math, and these young people are the poster children of what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Hill said he believes that it’s only a matter of time until a Washington County team wins the world championship, and he hopes TWCA will accomplish that this year.
The team is coached by a husband-and-wife duo of Amy and Jared Hummel. Amy Hummel said her husband lends his expertise as an electrical engineer when team members get stuck during the programming and building phase. For herself, she said she’s learned to apply her graphic design and organizational skills to help the team thrive.
“I really got just drug in by my daughter, who was really passionate about it,” Amy Hummel said. “It’s a really fun program – the competitions are really exciting, and the kids are really exciting. So it’s easy to get sucked in and want to build the program, and we keep growing more and more every year.”
Looking to the future
Five members of the team are graduating from high school at the end of this semester, leaving behind ample room for new members.
All of the graduating seniors plan on pursue degrees in STEM fields, and many said their participation in FIRST helped them find or strengthen their passion in science and engineering.
And while the team may miss their experience, many of those going on to college plan to continue to help out where they can.
“Regardless of where we ended up going to college, I know that Kate and also myself plan on at least making a little bit of time to mentor this team during their next season,” Bracken said, “be that through Zoom calls or just coming down here and actually seeing what’s going on and helping with that.”
Teslyn Hummel, the youngest member of the team, said she already has been working on several friends and doing her best to help them see the fun in robotics competition.
But recruiting is not so pressing as the immediate need for fundraising to see the team make it to the world championship. While FIRST participation is open to all youth ages 12-18 in grades 7-12, it can be a costly program.
“Their regular season costs about $6,400 just to register for local competitions, build a robot and pay for travel,” Amy Hummel said. “The control system on the robot is over $1,000 of equipment, just to be able to plug in motors and drive it with a remote control.”
While the team raised over $12,000 in 2021-22 fundraising, more than a quarter of that money went to designing, building and testing robot prototypes. The cost of registration for the three tournaments the team has already participated in plus the travel expenses incurred have consumed much of the remaining balance.
As one of just two qualifying teams representing Utah at the world championship, the team is trying to raise $11,000 to pay for the travel expenses and registration fees for the upcoming competition.
A GoFundMe set up to raise funds for TWCA has already raised $1,095. Thanks to its affiliation with USU Extension and its nonprofit status, the team can also receive donations through the statewide organization by selecting “Washington County” as the area to support and directing funds to the “TWCA 4-H Robotics Club.”
Ed. note: When making charitable contributions it is advisable to consult with professionals for tax advice and investment risks.
Photo Gallery
TWCA competes in one of the rounds at the FTC Utah Championship at Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah, Feb. 15, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Amy Hummel, St. George News Team Captain Kate Hummel along with her brother and fellow driver, Calvin Hummel, test prepare the robot for competition at the Park City qualifier, Park City, Utah, Feb. 15, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Amy Hummel, St. George News The format of FIRST Tech Challenge competitions encourages cooperation between teams, meaning several members of the T.W.C.A. specialize in scouting prospective opponents and allies, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 29, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Amy Hummel, St. George News The 2021-22 robotics game challenges teams to design machines that can pick up, transport and deposit small items (called freight) in multiple scoring areas, Hurricane, Utah, Feb. 11, 2022 | Photo by Ammon Teare, St. George News (L-R) Seniors Gerrod Nelson, Alex Bracken and Kate Hummel troubleshoot their robot, The Perry-inator, prior to a test run, Hurricane, Utah, Feb. 11, 2022 | Photo by Ammon Teare, St. George News Members of the T.W.C.A. drive team cheer alongside their allied team at the Hurricane qualifier, Hurricane, Utah, Jan. 8, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Amy Hummel, St. George News By winning the INSPIRE Award for all-around excellence at the FTC Utah Championship, the T.W.C.A. beat out 35 competing teams to earn one of two spots representing Utah at the upcoming FTC World Championship, Cedar City, Utah, Jan. 29, 2022 | Photo courtesy of Amy Hummel, St. George News T.W.C.A. members raise funds for parts and travel expenses through sponsorships, booth sales at community events (such as Peach Days, pictured above) and university grants, Hurricane, Utah, Sept. 4, 2021 | Photo courtesy of Amy Hummel, St. George News
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