body
WHEREAS, the Sarah Heinz Advanced Robotics Program team, also known as "SHARP", consists of a diverse group of 20 students, ranging from 7th to 12th graders, from 10 different schools in the Pittsburgh area who come together to compete in the international FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), which stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology", and
WHEREAS, the Sarah Heinz FIRST Robotics team is both small and young, by traditional FRC standards, yet they're dedicated to the challenge of building world-class, competition winning robots, with the ultimate goal of educating and exciting team members about pursuing STEM related professions, job which require expertise in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and
WHEREAS, team members are exposed to concepts such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, programming, and, of course, the value of teamwork. During their six week building season, the students come together daily to create a 120 lb. robot to compete against other high school team robots from across the country, and
WHEREAS, the SHARP team started in 2010 with only 7 members and two mentors, with a lot of uncertainty, and has blossomed into a group of over twice the size, with 18 members and 9 mentors, yet only three years later in 2013 the team ended the season with two second place medals from two different competitions, and
WHEREAS, each year since its inception the SHARP team has made giant leaps in the the quality and performance of their robots, culminating in an incredible victory in the Greater Pittsburgh Regional finals in California, PA on Saturday, March 29th, beating out over 40 other teams, finishing in the top 3% of all 2729 teams in the world, and
WHEREAS, their victory has qualified their team for the upcoming FIRST Robotics Competition World Championships, being held in St. Louis at Einstein Field, the same stadium in which the St. Louis Rams play, from April 23-26th, 2014.
title
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby proclaim Monday, April 14th to be Sarah Heinz Advanced Robotics Program Day in the City of Pittsburgh; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh celebrates the achievements of team members Kevin S., Luke M., Lily B., Billy S., Katrina S., Ely B., Julius, Kevin, Jonathan, Justin, Alex, Aidan, Raina, Eddie, Curtis, Max, Kennedi, and Peter along with mentors Ross Higashi, Christine Nguyen, Ron Sell, Matt Woodward, Ellan Cappo, Josh Giltina, Mike Burkholder, Gordon Kirkwood, David Colmena and wishes them the best in the finals!
Sponsored by Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak
Co-Sponsored by Council President Bruce Kraus and
Councilmembers Rev. Ricky V. Burgess, Daniel Gilman, Deborah L. Gross,
Darlene M. Harris, Theresa Kail-Smith, R. Daniel Lavelle, and Corey O'Connor