Category Archives: Sciences

Monrovia High School Robotics Team Advances to 2015 FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship for Second Year in a Row

Kings and Queens robotics team

MONROVIA, Calif., April 7, 2015 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- The Monrovia High Robotics Program announced today that the ten Monrovia High School students of the "Kings and Queens" robotics team and their purple robot "Sir Lancelot" qualified to advance to the 2015 FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics World Championships for a second year in a row as a result of their excellent performance at the West Super-Regional Robotics Tournament held in Oakland March 26-28.

The tournament brought together 72 champion teams who were winners at state and regional competitions held in 13 western states. The Kings and Queens will be among the 128 top teams from around the world to compete at the World Championships which will be held at the historic Union Station in St. Louis April 22-25. Only 42 teams who competed in last year's World Championship earned the right to come back again this year.

The Kings and Queens team, four seniors, one sophomore and five freshmen, designed and built their own 18 by 18 inch robot from t-slot channel, Plexiglas, and formed aluminum to compete in the annual FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics competition. Each year FTC creates a new game challenge and teams build a new robot to accomplish the requirements of that season's game. This season's challenge is to gather up hollow "wiffle" baseballs and golf balls from the playing field and fill goals made of vertical plastic tubes up to four feet high while never touching the tubes themselves.

The Kings and Queens are well known in the FTC community for their driving skill, unique robot designs, their signature costumes of purple velvet gold-embroidered renaissance dresses and gold tiaras for the girls and fur-trimmed black velvet jerkins with purple capes and gold crowns for the boys, and for their supporter's cheer of "Huzzah!" whenever they score points.

Team Captain Melissa Johnson commented, "We are so excited to advance to the World Championship, and very proud to represent both our school and the entire Southern California FIRST Tech Challenge region."

This marks the second trip to the world championships for Monrovia High School's five-year-old FTC robotics program which fields five student robotics teams supported by company sponsors, community donations, and parents, and is led by physics teacher Tom Dobson. The Monrovia High School robotics program is actively seeking tax-deductible donations and company sponsorships to help cover the approximate $12,000 cost of taking the team to St. Louis.

Donations may be made through the team's GoFundMe page at http://www.gofundme.com/kingsandqueens2015.

For additional info about the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition visit: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc.

Team on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FtcTeam4625 .

*PHOTO for media: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/15-0407-kingqueens-300dpi.jpg
Caption: Kings and Queens Team After Winning Top Inspire Award.

*PHOTO for media: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/15-0407-lancelot-300dpi.jpg
Caption: Kings and Queens Robot "Sir Lancelot."

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/monrovia-high-school-robotics-team-advances-to-2015-first-tech-challenge-world-championship-for-second-year-in-a-row-2015-0407-05.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE Monrovia High Robotics Program :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2015 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.

Oxyrase, Inc. Appoints Casey Zace as President

Casey Zace

MANSFIELD, Ohio, Nov. 3, 2014 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Oxyrase, Inc. announced that current General Manager Casey Zace will assume the role of President effective today. Exiting President James C. Copeland, Ph.D. will remain with the company as Chief Technology Officer and will also remain as Chairman of the Board.

Prior to joining Oxyrase, Inc. Zace served as Director of Manufacturing Operations at an In-Vitro Diagnostics company. He holds a B.S. in Economics from Eastern Oregon University and a MBA from University of Redlands.

According to Dr. Copeland, "Casey brings a new perspective to Oxyrase. With over 15 years in the biotechnology industry, he has the ability to provide leadership and strategic direction while retaining the grounding necessary to keep a biotech manufacturing company operating smoothly."

Mr. Zace will assume the responsibility to focus on expanding the company's reach as well as bringing their unique technology and exceptional customer service to different industries. Zace added "Oxyrase, Inc. was founded on Curiosity, Inquiry and Perseverance. I look forward to honoring this legacy while harnessing the potential of our technology to further build value for our clients, stakeholders and our community."

Dr. Copeland will focus on expanding the company's product portfolio and developing new products.

Oxyrase, Inc. is a biotechnology manufacturing company focused on providing a proprietary oxygen removal technology to many industries. Oxyrase, Inc. manufactures a unique enzyme system that efficiently and specifically removes oxygen from products and environments.

Many of these products are directed to anaerobe microbiology: the science of isolating, growing, and identifying microorganisms which thrive in environments devoid of oxygen. Several others are directed to the antioxidant properties of the technology. They are used to prevent oxidation of vulnerable substances and to prolong shelf-life of products, prevent quenching of fluorescent dyes or as a research tool.

To learn more about Nature's Antioxidant(R) please visit: http://www.oxyrase.com/ .

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/oxyrase-inc-appoints-casey-zace-as-president-2014-11-1103-005.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE Oxyrase Inc. :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2014 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.

Five Queens and their Robot qualify for World Championship

Kings And Queens Team

MONROVIA, Calif., March 27, 2014 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Five young women from Monrovia High School and their rhinestone-encrusted robot qualified to advance to the 2014 First Tech Challenge Robotics World Championships as a result of their strong performance at the West Super-Regional Robotics Tournament held near Sacramento at the former McClellan Air Force Base this past weekend, the Monrovia High School Robotics Program announced today.

The Monrovia team, the only qualifier from the Los Angeles area, joins three San Diego teams and four Northern California teams to be among the 128 top teams from around the world to compete at the First Robotics World Championships to be held at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis April 23-26, 2014.

A total of 24 teams advanced from the West Super-Regional including teams from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona.

These five junior class women - the "Kings and Queens" team - stand out not just for their signature costumes of purple-velvet-and gold-embroidered renaissance dresses and the purple and gold medieval royal pavilion where the team relaxes between matches. Their purple robot "Your Highness" performed flawlessly during the competition even after a failure of the robot's transport cart sent it plunging to the floor of the arena in an unplanned four-foot "drop test." In fact, during the crucial and difficult software-controlled "autonomous period" of the matches, Your Highness achieved a perfect record of 10 of 10 successful autonomous runs scoring an average of 56 autonomous points per match out of a possible 60.

The members of the Kings And Queens team - Amanda Sullivan, Melissa Johnson, Emma McIntosh, Jordan Nunez and Nicole Miller - designed and built their 18 by 18 inch robot from Tetrix parts, Plexiglas, metal shapes and machined aluminum to compete with alliances of robots on a 12 by 12 foot field. In competitions the robots are required to perform a variety of tasks in 2-1/2 minutes including picking up 2-inch plastic cubes and depositing them into elevated goals, navigating a wooden ramp, raising a flag up a pole, and gripping a cross bar and pulling themselves up completely off the floor, all while coordinating with a partner robot and while sharing the field with an opposing team of robots intent on accomplishing the same tasks.

This marks the first trip to the world championships for Monrovia High School's four-year-old FTC robotics program which fields four separate student robotics teams supported by company sponsors, the community, and parents, and is led by physics teacher Tom Dobson. The success of the Kings And Queens caps a strong year for Monrovia High which saw all four of the program's teams qualify over the season to compete in the Los Angeles Regional Championship Tournament held in Monrovia in February. At the L.A. regional tournament the Kings And Queens team was awarded the Inspire Award, FTC Robotics highest award naming them the "role-model" team for their on-field success, teamwork, inspiration to others, representation of the First Robotics program to their school and community, and embodiment of "Gracious Professionalism," the core value of the FIRST program.

The Monrovia High FTC robotics after-school program is one of many opportunities at Monrovia High School supporting STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and math) in conjunction with Monrovia's Math and Science Academy, and supported by the Monrovia Schools Foundation.

The Monrovia High School FTC robotics program is actively seeking tax-deductible donations and company sponsorships to help cover the approximate $13,000 cost of taking the team to St. Louis in April. Donations may be made through our GoFundMe page at http://www.gofundme.com/75ehc4 .

The Kings And Queens Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/FtcTeam4625 .

More information about Monrovia High School: http://www.monroviaschools.net/MHS .

* PHOTO 1 300dpi: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/14-0326-queens-drivers_300dpi.jpg .

* Photo 1 Caption: Kings And Queens driver team waits for match to begin.

* PHOTO 2 300dpi: Send2Press.com/mediaboom/14-0327-your-highness_300dpi.jpg .

* Photo 2 Caption: Kings And Queens robot "Your Highness."

To view the original version on Send2Press Newswire, visit: https://www.send2press.com/newswire/Five-Queens-and-their-Robot-qualify-for-World-Championship_2014-03-0327-002.shtml.

NEWS SOURCE Monrovia High School Robotics Program :: This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (who is solely responsible for its accuracy) by and Copr. © 2014 Send2Press® Newswire, a service of Neotrope®.