We had a great day at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for the STEAM Maker Festival! Thanks to 4216 Rise of Hephaestus for organizing all the teams!

​15 teams participated: 2885 Kronos, 3650 Torrey Techies Blue, 4216 Rise of Hephaestus, 6074 RAWALA, 6137 RoBowties, 8906 ROARbots, 9441 Syndicate, 9920 Furious Falcons, 10092 Green.Griffins, 10221 RobotX, 11128 Inspiration, 11278 Virtually Creative, 11288 Seminerds, 11350 Sloth Slowbotics, 11764 UC High Centurions, plus 5229 Dragons were demonstrating in the main Exhibit Hall.

​One more week til Meet #1 !

​PLEASE READ ASAP – LIMITED TIME TO CLAIM THIS OPPORTUNITY
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​Even if your robot won't be ready to scrimmage, bring it along to work on it or program it on the Velocity Vortex field. Lots of experienced students and mentors will be happy to share advice, tools, and strategy!
 
Dear San Diego FTC Teams,
 
The San Diego FTC region and 4216 Rise of Hephaestus has secured space at the STEAMMaker Festival for an informal scrimmage on December 3rd, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Del Mar Fair Grounds as part of the STEAMMaker Festival 2016, the weekend before the first league meet.  The San Diego region has secured 6 tickets to the event for each team that participates.  We will be setting up in a tent structure that is part of the fairgrounds.
 
All teams that want to participate should join in as many scrimmages as time allows.  The interest level will determine the scheduling. We will have one field set up but teams are asked to bring any items they might want to use for pits.  We could use some help in bringing a few tables and chairs to the event.
 
If your team would like to participate, we would appreciate an email by November 8th.  Please email Grace Wilson at [email protected] and include:
 
1.  Team name and number;
2.  Contact name, phone number and email address;
3.  Any other information you feel we should know including time constraints, preferred times for scrimmages 10-12:30, 12:15-2:45, or 2:30-5:00, etc.
 
Again, in order to coordinate the event, all replies must be sent in no later than November 8th!
 
Teams with more than 6 participating members/parents/mentors are requested to donate to the STEAMMaker organization for half the cost of cost of the normal tickets ($4 instead of $8) to help cover just part of the cost of the space we will be using, but teams with financial restrictions should contact Grace Wilson for additional tickets at no cost.  No teams will be turned away due to financial constraints!  Please just let us know!
 
Once we know the level of participation, we will contact each team to coordinate their time slot as well as tickets.
 
In the meantime, should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact Grace Wilson and you can find more information about the San Diego STEAM Maker Festival at www.sansmf.org.  Grace's contact information:
 
 
Grace Wilson                                                       
FTC 4216 - Rise of Hephaestus                         
(619) 316-5462            
[email protected]
 
 
Thank you!
 
John Brooks - San Diego FTC Affiliate Partner
Matt Nilsen - Lead Mentor FTC 4216 Rise of Hephaestus

It was a busy and well-attended two days at the San Diego Maker Faire this weekend! The Ducks (FTC8471), Team Uncopyrightable (FTC5135), and their new rookie team PATENT PENDING (FTC11285) opened up the weekend on Saturday Oct 1. Then on Sunday Oct 2, Rise of Hephaestus (FTC4216), RoBowties (FTC6137), and the Rancho Santa Fe teams Singularity (FTC7696), Portal Pounders (FTC8605), and Intergalactic Dragons (FTC8606) tested and demonstrated their robots.

​We're looking for one or two teams to join FIRST supporters to celebrate the organization's great accomplishments over the years. FIRST Founder, Dean Kamen, along with many other influential FIRST leadership will be present at this event on the USS Midway (910 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101) Tuesday, November 15th at 6:30pm.

Teams with military connections or with unique stories are being specifically requested. It's a great opportunity to share your team experiences with FIRST leadership and influential supporters. If interested in the opportunity, please email me at [email protected] to be nominated. 
 
John Brooks
FIRST Tech Challenge Affiliate Partner, San Diego

This weekend Oct 1-2 at the San Diego Maker Faire, at least three FTC teams will be demonstrating their robots and letting spectators take them for a spin on the field. If you or someone you know is interested in getting involved in FTC, come out to the Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park to see The Ducks (FTC8471),  RoBowties (FTC6137), and Rise of Hephaestus (FTC4216). There will be lots to see and do besides FTC too!

​And then in two weekends on Sat Oct 15, there will be FTC demos and access to this season's Velocity Vortex field at the Battle at the Border, an off-season FIRST Robotics Competition event at Francis Parker School. Green.Griffins (FTC10092) will be hosting teams for the FTC demo, and already Rise of Hephaestus (FTC4216), Crusader Creators (FTC5136), ROARbots (FTC8906), and RobotX (FTC10221) have signed up to participate. Sign up here!
http://tinyurl.com/gtfp24g