The Robotics Team at Whippany Park High School was established with a clear goal in mind: “to cultivate an environment in which students who are interested in math, science, and engineering can get together to learn, practice skills, and have fun.” The team was started in 2012 by students Dan and Tom Saad and has gotten off to an award winning start. The 2013/2014 school year marked the first time the team competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge. In the FTC competition, “Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams,” according to the FTC website. Affectionately known as the “Tesla Pandas,” the WPHS Robotics Team won a qualifier competition that sent them off to the state competition at NJIT. The Pandas were in the winning alliance at NJIT and will be competing at the "super-regional" competition in York, PA in early April.
Whippany Park’s Tesla Pandas could not function without Whippany Park Science teacher and club advisor Michael Kleeman, as well as parent volunteer, Ron Saad. In addition, the following students hold key roles: Dan and Tom Saad, who function as the teams’ founders and co-presidents, Alexis Mincolelli, who heads up the driving team, Brianna Mincolelli, the team’s driving coach, Anthony Campesi, the mechanical lead, and Katherine Dodge, the team’s main driver.
Best of luck and continued success to WP’s Tesla Pandas as they head to the super-regional competition!
