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Hello FIRST Ladies readers, We are the members of Failing Formally out of Lexington, KY. We are here to introduce our robot, Botty White, to you. “Why Botty White,” some people ask. Our philosophy as a team is that everyone has a seat at our table; at the end of the day, FTC is “more than robots.” FTC is an organization that prides itself on Gracious Professionalism (GP). To us, some attributes of showing Gracious Professionalism are kindness, friendship, and support. Really, when we think of GP, as a human our first thoughts immediately went to the incomparable, late, Betty White. As a team, we hope that when you feel lost you know you can come directly to our table for support. You need a spare part, we’ve got you covered because we are all in this together. We may be your alliance partners one round and your opponents the second but already remember, Failing Formally is always cheering each and every one of you on. We want to see everyone be successful. We were able to honor the great Betty White this past year by orchestrating our first non-FTC outreach event. Our small team was able to collect a trunk full of shelter donations and present a check to our local animal shelter for what would have been Betty White’s 103rd Birthday. Thank you for reading our blog and “thank you for being a friend.”
Failing Formally (Team 21623)
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Hello FIRST Ladies readers, we are Failing Formally, an FTC team out of Lexington, KY. We just ended our third season and already are gearing up for our fourth. As a homeschool community team, we are unique in that we have the flexibility of creating an environment where both homeschoolers and public schoolers are welcome. We are currently a team of eleven and have learned the true meaning of teamwork over the past three years. Our main focus as an FTC team has always been inclusivity and helping to promote gender inclusion within the field of STEM. When we say we have the most supportive males on our team, we truly mean it. Our girls are both active within FIRST Ladies and First Like a Girl and help promote both wonderful organizations everywhere we go.
We currently have two active members who are on the Student Board of Directors in KY and are excited to showcase FIRST Ladies at the upcoming Run for the Robots event in June. Additional experiences where our team has been able to successfully promote FIRST Ladies have been at E-Day at the University of Kentucky and various outreach events. Our outreach members are currently working with various Girl Scout troops to organize STEM events with local chapters. As a team, we meet weekly during the season and have found great success in working with three separate teams. We have a programming team, a build team, and a design team. We have a lot of crossover between the two and hope that each member leaves our team with the capability to accomplish each task. We look forward to continuing our regional partnership with FIRST Ladies and hope to continue to see more local teams join this fantastic organization. Thank you for allowing us to be here and for taking the time to read our blog. Failing Formally FTC 21623 Hello FIRST Ladies readers! We are FRC Team 8717 Cyber Vipers from Las Vegas, Nevada. In the past we have made many contributions to help support Women In STEM, but this year we have accomplished an incredibly notable event. Science Lab Day This month we partnered with our school's lead Chemistry Teacher, Ms. Blockovich, to hold a science day where students can participate in fun labs. We started this initiative with hopes to give more girls within our school a chance to participate in STEM based activities without the pressure a classroom environment introduces! Our school's chemistry teacher has always been willing to help out with women in STEAM events and to promote inclusion. Last month, she was featured on our school's news program during Women's History Month where she was interviewed on how women can promote equality and what she thinks are some of the most important issues that women currently face. We are incredibly grateful to have a teacher within our school that cares so much about helping make STEAM a more inclusive and accessible environment. Why are events like these important? Although these kinds of events may seem small, hosting events within your school or community like this can start a snowball effect that begins to bring awareness to the importance of promoting a more inclusive environment. How can you run events like these? Events never have to be run alone. It is always incredibly beneficial to get help from organizations or community leaders within your school, community, or other teams. Start by forming contact and establishing a relationship, prioritize an in person introduction to introduce yourself, your team and FIRST! Then, always make sure to send a follow up email reminding them of what was discussed, sharing any necessary resources such as your team contacts or business plan, and sending them a full plan of the event(s) you plan to run with them. Make sure you are both in agreement on the dates, times, location and substance of the event! As the event approaches make sure to work out the last few kinks and send reminder emails. The last thing is to finally run the event. Don't forget to document by taking photos, keeping track of how many people joined, and how this impacted those that participated! Team LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/cybervipers8717 Instagram: www.instagram.com/frc_8717_cybervipers/ Team Website: sites.google.com/view/cyber-vipers/home?authuser=0 Submitted by Cyber Vipers, FRC Team 8717  Balancing robotics, school, and life is no easy job. Late-night practices, high expectations, and crammed schedules push us to our limits—but that’s what makes it all worth it. In this blog, I sat down with two incredible LadyTalons members to hear firsthand about their experiences juggling STEM, academics, and friendships. Let’s dive in and see how they make it all work! How does the robotics team help each other maintain a good balance? Let's hear it from Erin (11th grade), our current Electrical Captain for 9492 "Many of our teammates are taking the same classes and are all really big academic achievers. Whenever we fall behind on schoolwork, we work together as study buddies, and we all understand the academic stress that comes with competition season every year. Whenever we struggle with balancing other responsibilities with robotics, we feel comfortable talking about it with one another and can understand what these experiences are like. Our team shares a close friendship with one another, and we always cheer each other up when we see each other feeling down and remind everyone that we are always there to support one another!" What advice would you give to someone struggling to juggle robotics and academics? Our team captain, Fatemeh (12th grade) answers this question "The advice I would give to someone who is struggling to juggle robotics and academics would be to balance what they prioritize. The misconception is that one must be chosen over the other. While that is true at specific times, I also believe we must put our best faith effort into both activities. With robotics, we have our teammates relying on us and a successful season, and with academics, it’s the recognition. To excel at both doesn’t mean completely losing time for yourself, but really working to balance the two activities, so you feel like you are making an impact both ways." What has been the biggest challenge in balancing robotics with other commitments? Answering this question, we have Jocelyn (10th grade) who is our 9492 driver "Balancing robotics with other commitments is definitely one of the biggest challenges many students face today. Between academic pressures, extracurricular activities, family responsibilities, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, it can sometimes feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. I’m sure many students share the same sentiment and find themselves staying late after scheduled meetings or working through weekends when competition deadlines loom. I balance robotics with competitive dance and art classes, and I hold down a part-time weekend job. There are weeks when my schedule is so packed that I'm literally rushing from robotics straight to dance practice, quickly changing in the car. However, when you truly love your activities, you find ways to make them work together. It's not always pretty and there are definitely moments of stress and exhaustion, but the satisfaction of pursuing your interests and doing what you love makes it all worthwhile." 9492 LadyTalons Author: Nandika Nandan Interviewees: Erin Dolores; Fatemeh Fardin; Jocelyn Li  Since joining my current FTC team in 6th grade as a member in training, and now as a junior in high school, I have learned how to do CAD, build a variety of different mechanisms, and organize groups of people. The fact that my team is an all-girls team helps to develop a culture in which everyone's ideas are heard and people are encouraged to take risks. This gave me a space to learn, experiment, and grow in my engineering and design skills. During the pandemic, our mentors provided us with resources to help us learn OnShape, an online CAD software, allowing us to collaborate virtually to design our robot. This skill has been immensely helpful to me on my team, in engineering classes, and in internships. Even when I make mistakes in designs, like forgetting to account for tolerances or making a virtual 4 bar arm that is unnecessarily free spinning, my team members and mentors have always been supportive, providing suggestions for design improvement and alternative ways to accomplish the same task. This environment has helped me feel comfortable with failure, or with designs that don’t quite work out. Without acceptance of the possibility of failure, and the capacity to learn from one’s mistakes, building a robot isn’t possible. Being on an all-girls FTC team also gave me many opportunities to gain hands-on experience with motors, servos, linear slides, mecanum wheels, and a wide variety of mechanisms. By being able to actually use parts myself, experiment with designs, and assemble CAD models I had made, I was able to develop a much better understanding of how parts work together. It has been immensely rewarding to be able to see ideas that my team brainstorms at the beginning of the season come to life in CAD models, and eventually the final robot. The environment created on the team has challenged me to try new things, while providing helpful feedback and suggestions when things don’t work out. I am incredibly grateful for the technical knowledge I have gained and the amazing members and mentors I have met on my FTC team. FTC Team SpiderBits 17219  Breaking Boundaries and Building the Future For centuries, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) were fields dominated by men. But history tells a different story—one of brilliant women who defied expectations, challenged the status quo, and reshaped industries. Today, more than ever, women in STEM are leading innovations, creating solutions, and inspiring future generations. A Legacy of Pioneers Women have played crucial roles in scientific advancements from Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer, to Katherine Johnson, whose calculations helped land a man on the moon. Their contributions are woven into modern technology, medicine, and engineering. Despite systemic barriers, they persevered—paving the way for those who followed. The Challenges Women Face While progress has been made, women in STEM still encounter obstacles. Underrepresentation in leadership roles, gender biases, and a lack of mentorship opportunities often create barriers to success. The statistics speak for themselves—women make up nearly half of the workforce, yet hold only a fraction of STEM jobs. Overcoming these challenges requires structural change, supportive networks, and advocacy for inclusivity. Empowering the Next Generation Representation matters. When young girls see women thriving in STEM, they envision themselves in those roles. That’s why initiatives like coding workshops, STEM mentorship programs, and scholarships aimed at women are essential. By creating an environment where women are encouraged to innovate, the future of STEM becomes more diverse and groundbreaking. The Road Ahead Women in STEM are not just participants; they are pioneers. Their presence strengthens industries, fuels creativity, and ensures progress. The more we encourage their voices, celebrate their achievements, and break barriers, the stronger the STEM community becomes. Are you a woman in STEM or aspiring to be one? What changes do you think can improve representation and inclusion? Let’s keep the conversation going and continue shaping a more equitable future! 9492 LadyTalons Author: Nandika Nandan  With ambition and competitive spirit, it's easy to get caught up in the rankings, awards, and advancement. But being involved in FIRST Robotics is about much more than how far you get in the season. Whether it's the local qualifier of the championship, the real value is from the journey. FIRST teaches you lifelong skills which will last far beyond one season. You learn teamwork, working underneath pressure, communication, and empathy. The idea of Gracious Professionalism is one that will last with you throughout your entire career and shape you into a leader. While advancement is an accomplishment to be celebrated, it’s not the only measure of your impact and achievement. Every design, practice, outreach event, and line of code written matters. The moments that stay with you are the late nights tuning the robot, new friends made, and mentor relationships built. FIRST is about more than building robots, it's about building people. You will walk away as an alumni with skills, confidence, and one of the most valuable communities that will support you for years. Adhya Channashetti, FTC Team SpiderBits 17219  Hello FIRST Ladies! We are FRC Team 2502 Talon Robotics, based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota and we are excited to be a part of this organization. Our super cool team works like this: we have five business teams that organize fundraisers to encourage connections around our community and five build subteams that are constantly troubleshooting and teaching younger members. Our biggest event is our spaghetti fundraiser, which showcases our beautiful robot to friends and family of our FLL, FRC, and FTC teams. Otherwise, we go around Eden Prairie and show off our robot to kids and adults alike. We have 50% female leadership, on both sides of the team, who continue to show girls what it means to be interested in STEM and extremely valuable to the team. What sets us apart is our newest neutral subteam, Inclusivity. We want to make it known that everyone who joins, no matter their skill level or identity, is accepted to the fullest extent. This means monthly team builders, from games to movie nights, and mental health initiatives to encourage the healthiest environment for everyone. One of our coolest ways to be inclusive is our “Awesome Sauce Box”. This is a chance to highlight someone on the team for the work they’ve done recently, big or small. Lastly, we value leadership on our team, from hosting a team builder to leading a prototype for the start of the season, we’re always looking for our members to step out of their comfort zones and reach new heights.  “Since the beginning of time, since the first little girl ever existed, there have been dolls. But the dolls were always and forever baby dolls. The girls who played with them could only ever play at being mothers.” When you go into the toy aisle at a store the options are staggeringly different between the toys for boys and girls. Boys are offered toy cars, construction sets, and miniature spaceships, while girls are often offered dolls that act as babies. While boys are told that they can be whatever they want to be, girls are told from a young age that their only goal in life should be to become a mother. This conditions women from an impressionable age to not strive for bigger career opportunities and this often causes women to be forced into domestic roles later on in life. “All of these women are Barbie, and Barbie is all of these women. She might have started out as just a lady in a bathing suit, but she became so much more. She has her own money, her own house, her own car, her own career.” When we stop women from participating in different careers, half of the population's ideas go completely unnoticed. Women have provided some of the most influential findings in history from Rosalind Franklin discovering the structure of DNA to Ada Lovelace who started the field of programming. Without these women we wouldn’t know many of the things we do today. These women and many others show that their ideas and contributions are needed and women deserve the same opportunities as men. Although women have begun to strive more within STEM fields and higher education, they still aren’t given the same treatment as men and only make up 27% of the STEM workforce. Instead of only pushing boys to pursue their dreams and follow their passions, we should give young girls and boys equal opportunities to be whatever they want to be. In order to give young women a chance to pursue their dreams, we have to stop color coding items and providing baby dolls. Instead, we need to give women the chance to explore different career paths from a young age and we shouldn’t force them into roles that are made “for women.” “Because Barbie can be anything, women can be anything.” Works Cited:
Team LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/cybervipers8717 Instagram: www.instagram.com/frc_8717_cybervipers/ Team Website: sites.google.com/view/cyber-vipers/home?authuser=0 Submitted by Cyber Vipers, FRC Team 8717   The first great American woman in the history of electrical engineering, Edith Clarke, made several great contributions to the area of power engineering. Born on February 10, 1883, in Ellicott City, Maryland, she was the daughter of one of nine children from a farming family. At the age of 12 years, Clarke lost both parents and thus grew up under the guardianship of an older sister. At the age of 18 years, she inherited a modest amount of money and was admitted to Vassar College, from which in 1908 she graduated with honors in mathematics and astronomy. After teaching mathematics and physics in private schools, Clarke became a “computer” at AT&T in 1912, which included doing complicated mathematical calculations. She later did some evening studies in electrical engineering at Columbia University. In 1918 she entered MIT and in 1919 earned her Master of Science degree in electrical engineering, the first woman to receive such from the institution. While at General Electric (GE), Clarke achieved many firsts. She took a brief leave from GE in 1921, becoming a physics teacher at the Constantinople Women's College in Turkey. In 1922, she returned to GE, and was the first American woman to hold a professional appointment as an electrical engineer. Clarke performed many analyses of electrical power systems. She also developed a graphical device called the "Clarke calculator," intended to simplify complex calculations for electrical engineers. In 1926 she became the first female speaker at the American Institute of Electrical Engineers. Her talk that day was power transmission system stability - an area of growing interest today as systems are extending in length and complexity. When Clarke started teaching electrical engineering at the University of Texas in Austin back in 1947, she became the first female electrical engineering professor in the United States. Until her retirement in 1956, she taught a whole generation of engineers with her extensive experience and vast knowledge that proved highly beneficial. In the course of her work, Clarke received many honors and awards. She was also the first woman to become a professional member of Tau Beta Pi, which is the oldest engineering honor society in the United States. Clarke became the first woman to be inducted as a Fellow of AIEE in the year 1948. She also received the 1954 Society of Women Engineers Achievement Award for making so many original contributions that form a basis for both the theory of stability and the analysis of electrical circuits. In 2015, she was inducted posthumously into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for her work on inventions related to electrical engineering. However, Clarke's legacy is not only about the technical contribution but also about breaching the gender barriers for future generations of women who could aspire to enter this highly male-dominated engineering field. Her work on developing methods for safe and efficient distribution of electrical power holds considerable implications today for industrial practice and delineates one of the fundamental ways that women have succeeded in pushing forward the domains of engineering and technology. Submitted by Alicia M., Senior Captain FRC Team 7503 Radicubs Frisco, TX radicubs.com | @theradicubs Works Cited: “Edith Clarke.” Maryland State Archives. https://msa.maryland.gov/msa/educ/exhib its/womenshallfame/html/clarke.html “Edith Clarke.” EngineerGirl. https://www.engineergirl.org/125222/Edith-Clarke “Edith Clarke.” Edison Tech Center. https://edisontechcenter.org/Clarke.html “Edith Clarke.” USPTO. https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/edith-clarke “Edith Clarke: Architect of Modern Power Distribution.” IEEE Spectrum.https://spectrum.i eee.org/edith-clarke-modern-power-distribution “Edith Clarke.” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Clarke  |
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