Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenneth Ngai.
Hi Kenneth, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
We are The Gearmasters, a world-champion FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) team. We compete on a county, state, and international level in robotics, and our mission is to promote STEM across all the communities we touch, from Queens, NYC to Houston, Texas equitably, sustainably, and inclusively.
Our team has 9 members based in Forest Hills, NYC that meet weekly. This year is our 9th year competing, 4th year advancing to the FIRST world championship, with multiple world championship titles, and 3rd year as reigning NYC champions.
As NYC champions in 2022, we were invited to the FIRST world championship that took place in April in Houston. This event took place at the George R. Brown convention center and included hundreds of teams from all over the world.
As a team, we collaborate with many state and local leaders, including State Senators Leroy Comrie and Joseph Addabbo Jr. to promote STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) throughout their district by running STEAM programs and workshops. Here is a link to the press release Senator Addabbo wrote about our program, Steam2Youth: https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/joseph-p-addabbo-jr/addabbo-partners-world-champion-robotics-team-forest
During these programs, we have received press attention highlighting our work at the FIRST world championship, and in promoting STEM throughout the NYC region. The Queens Courier has interviewed our team, below is the link to our article in the Queens Courier: https://qns.com/2022/08/queens-lawmaker-forest-hills-robotics-team/
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We are an entirely self-funded team, and we don’t receive any guaranteed funding (unlike a school-funded team). This means that our team reaches out to sponsors who offer to support our team. Last season we reached out to 45 organizations and raised over $7,000, far more than our $5,000 goal. We use this budget to fund our STEM outreach efforts, where we promote income and gender equality in STEM fields. Some of our sponsors last season included Senators Leroy Comrie, Joseph Addabbo, NYC FIRST, Masterfit, and Autism Early Enrichment Services.
We also have much more limited time than most FIRST teams. We are not a school team, which means we have to coordinate the schedules of 9 members who live in vastly different areas and go to 6 different schools. Most of the time we are just able to meet on Saturdays in our coach’s backyard. This time and space constraint means we have to work efficiently and make the most of our limited time. Despite these challenges, we are a successful team with 1st place performance in NYC all of the last 3 years.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are FTC Team #8365 Gearmasters. G.E.A.R. stands for Get Excited About Robotics. Our Team Mission is to promote STEM, through participation in FIRST® FTC, to our local & global communities. We are a fully self-funded, community-based 9-member team.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Our team color is orange, and this orange runs through all parts of our competition, from our team portfolio to our robot’s plexiglass. It’s not just the plexiglass though, we name our robot after popular orange food as well! Some of our most recent names include Duck Sauce and Fanta.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gearmasters8365/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Gearmasters
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ7TMAYN4YOBE0bcFHm3gOg?app=desktop
