The Merrillville robotics team is celebrating a major achievement after securing a spot at the state championship. With months of hard work, problem solving, and teamwork, the students are eager to take on the next challenge and showcase their robotics skills at the highest level.
For many team members, robotics is more than just an extracurricular activity, it’s a stepping stone to future careers. Aydan Gabriel (10), one of the team members, has been passionate about robotics for as long as he can remember.
“I’ve been interested in it my whole life, but it’s also going to help me in my career pathway,” he said.
Aspiring to become an aerospace engineer and a commercial airline pilot, Aydan sees robotics as a way to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
The road to success hasn’t always been easy. Aydan admits that setbacks during the design and building process can be frustrating, but he’s learned to tackle them with patience.
“Whenever I hit a setback or failure, I take my time to find every problem there is. If something doesn’t work, I go back to the drawing board again,” he explained.
His advice for newcomers to robotics?
“Be patient and be willing to learn. Robotics isn’t easy, but if you stay on top of it, you’ll succeed.”
Kennedy Wells (11), another key member of the team, plays a crucial role, a backup driver and scouter. She described scouting as a crucial part of competitions, requiring her to communicate with other teams, analyze their robots, and gather valuable information.
“I’ve improved my communication skills and observation skills because I have to keep going up to people and asking them questions,” she said.
One of the biggest challenges Kennedy faced was learning the robot’s controls, which often change as the team’s programmer makes adjustments.
“We have to adapt quickly,” she noted.
Despite the learning curve, Kennedy has embraced the process and encourages others to find their niche in the team.
“Even if you come in with zero experience, find one way to contribute, even in the smallest way. Eventually, your role will grow, and those skills will transfer to college and beyond.”
William Verreault-Martin (12), the team captain, has been passionate about robotics since childhood.
“At the high school level, I kind of just kept on going. I started doing robotics when I was little. I just thought they looked super cool and it was fun. So I decided to try. It was these little Lego robots. I found out I liked it, continued doing it throughout middle school, and by the time I got to high school, it was a no-brainer—I wanted to do robotics. It’s fun, it’s interesting.”
When it comes to handling setbacks during the design and building process, William believes in persistence.
“Redesign and rebuild. That’s all you really can do. Learn from what went wrong and approach it from a different angle next time.”
As team captain, William sees robotics as a way to develop leadership skills and apply engineering concepts.
“One of them is leadership. This year, I’m the team captain, and it’s further reinforcing leadership characteristics that I learned in ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps). But also, I’ve been learning a lot of engineering concepts and integrating a lot of calculus, physics, and recently aerodynamics into my designs. I’m getting better at designing and everything that goes with the whole design process.”
His advice for newcomers?
“Just get in there and do it. We’re always teaching people, trying to keep our knowledge going into the next year. Don’t be afraid about not knowing something or seeming dumb. We’re teaching and continuing.”
Finding out that the team qualified for state was a proud moment for William.
“I’m just super happy. I’m so proud of my team for everything that we’ve done. My co-lead designer—I’ve been teaching him all year, a bunch of techniques, everything that I do really. Just seeing everybody working together and bringing the robots to life is just amazing. I’m proud of the team.”
When asked about the state competition, William provided a breakdown of how it works:
“The general goal of the competition is to score as many points as you can. There are different ways to score points, like hanging, putting blocks, and stacking them. You just get as many points as you can. If you get more points than the other team and don’t get too many penalties, you win, and you get to go to the next match. That repeats until you only have two teams left, and whoever wins is the winner of the entire thing and gets to go to nationals.”
The team’s hard work paid off when they qualified for state, a moment that left them thrilled and proud.
“I was pretty ecstatic,” Aydan recalled. “It felt like a blur, but it was such an exciting moment for all of us.”
Kennedy shared a similar excitement: “It’s our second time making it to state, and I can’t wait. Last year was so much fun, and I’m looking forward to meeting new teams, making connections, and creating new memories.”
As the Merrillville robotics team prepares for the state championship, their dedication, teamwork, and passion for engineering continue to drive them forward. With their sights set on success, they are ready to take on the competition and make their school proud.
