FIRST, firsthand

Late last year, Rockwell Automation announced a winner of its “Engineering Our Future through Rockwell Automation” competition, in which more than 140 FIRST teams from around the world submitted ideas for how they will use engineering to change the world. After tallying the thousands of votes submitted, Rockwell declared its first place winner: The Steel Hawks Team from Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, NY, under coach Joel Heitman. The team was awarded a $5,000 prize.
Electronic Products had the opportunity to interview a member of that FIRST team, 17-year-old Alexander Burzynski, a senior at Townsend Harris, as well as his younger brother, 12-year-old Nikolas Burzynski, who is a 7th grader at PS/IS 119 in Glendale, NY, and a member of his school’s FIRST Lego League (FLL). Next month, Alexander will be involved in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) and Nikolas in the FLL Championship at NYC's Jacob Javits Center.

Electronic Products : How did you hear about FIRST, and how did you get involved with it?
Alexander Burzynski : I first got involved in the FIRST robotics program in the 7th grade when I joined IS 119's FLL robotics team.
Nikolas Burzynski : I started working with robotics in the 4th grade at PS 153 when I had it as a class. When I started 7th grade at PS/IS 119 I tried out for their robotics team and made it, so now I'm working on the team as we get ready to compete at the NYC FIRST Regional Competition at the Javits Center in April.

EP : Did you both get involved at the same time? or did, say, Alexander, get involved first?
Alexander : I was a member of the program prior to my brother joining in the 4th grade.
Nikolas : My brother Alexander was already involved with robotics when I first started. He was in PS/IS 119 on the robotics team and competing in the First Lego League competition.

EP : Did you know anything about real-life robotics before you started the project, or was this the first time you did anything like this?
Nikolas : The only robots I knew about were R2-D2 and C-3PO, the ones in sci-fi movies, and the ones my brother was building at the time.
Alexander : Like my brother, what I knew about robots and robotics in general came from movies and shows I had watched. Occasionally a company would come out with a remote control robot, but that was just a toy I had and used for fun. At that time, I didn’t truly understand the mechanics of such a device.

EP : What is it like working on the project? How much time do you spend each week working on it?
Nikolas : I really like working on robotics each day before and after school. It is a time for me to do something I really enjoy with people who also enjoy it. Each week I spend about 7-8 hours programming and working on the robot.
Alexander : Working on Townsend Harris' robotics team is honestly a challenge. Not only are the engineering aspects challenging, but the hours are demanding as well. On an average day, I work until 10 p.m. at robotics after a full day of school. On average, I spend about 40 hours a week, not including full-day weekend sessions. Although challenging, robotics is something I love doing, so its demanding hours and the growing fatigue I experience from some nights of very little sleep don't seem to bother me.

EP : What's the most exciting thing about your project? What’s the hardest thing about it?
Alexander : The most exciting thing is our final product. To see what we have spent so much time on, zipping around the field and scoring points, is truly exhilarating. The hardest part is the build season and time constraint we are under. We have only six weeks to strategize, design, build, rebuild, program and practice with our robot. When engineers from our sponsors hear we only have six weeks, they cannot believe we can get it all done in time.
Nikolas : The most exciting thing about the project is the competition itself. It is like a major sporting event for the teams. Each team has a group of people cheering for them and making a lot of noise. Also it makes me feel good to see our robot actually doing what we wanted it to do. The hardest thing about this project is trying to position the robot in the exact same place you programmed it to start from each time so that it will complete the task you programmed it to do.

EP : What do your friends think about your being involved in FIRST? Have you made any new friends as a result of being in FIRST?
Nikolas : A lot of my friends come into homeroom in the morning and see me already there working on the robot. Most the time they come up to see me test the program I made earlier and are very interested. I have made a lot of friends who are also involved in FIRST. For example, I didn’t know the kids on my team when I started. However, now we are like a family that looks out for each other.
Alexander : My friends outside of the robotics team respect the time and energy I spend on this project and are always asking how it is going and jokingly reminding me of the amount of days we have left before we have to stop building. Come competition time, many of my friends come to cheer us on at the Javits Center. Naturally, spending so much time with the same people, bonds and friendships will form. I have made multiple friends as a result of being a participant on Townsend Harris' robotics team and I think the strength of our friendship comes from the common goal we have in our minds. We want to do our best and help each other learn and grow in the program and that's what makes our friendships so unique and special.

EP : Do you plan to stay involved with FIRST after the competition?
Nikolas : Yes. This is because there is always the excitement of seeing what challenges and fun things next year's game board will bring.
Alexander : Although I'm a senior and will be graduating from Townsend and “graduating” from the FIRST program, I do plan on pursuing some of the scholarships FIRST offers after the season ends.

EP : Has FIRST made you think about what you want to do in high school or in college? Do you think you want to pursue a career in engineering?
Alexander : FIRST has strongly shaped my interests and my desire to pursue engineering in college. Being part of FIRST, I was exposed to and got to try out something new and I fell in love with robotics and engineering. Many of my peers applying to college are undecided, but since I have spent these last six years in the program, I am applying to top engineering schools because I want to pursue and expand my passion and make it my career. I want to improve what is considered the “norm” and make the dreams of today a reality for tomorrow, just as countless engineers and innovators before me have done.
Nikolas : FIRST has made me think that I would like to join an FRC team in high school just like my older brother. I can see myself working with engineering, using the skills I have learned in FIRST as a career.