Pine-Richland High School’s BrainSTEM Robotics Team Heading to World Championship to Promote STEM and Break Barriers

Three students from Pine-Richland High School have been selected to compete at the FIRST Robotics World Championship, which will take place in Houston, Texas from April 17-20. The team, named BrainSTEM Learning Giant Diencephalic BrainSTEM Robotics Team after a part of the human brain, has a mission of breaking systemic barriers that hinder children’s potential through outreach.

Over the past year, the team has organized over 100 events aimed at overcoming obstacles such as geography, health, or socioeconomic status. Their initiatives include creating STEM activity kits for the Ronald McDonald House, fundraising for humanitarian efforts in Haiti, establishing robotics teams in Central America, and creating a STEM career pathway for students in Allegheny Public Housing. Their commitment to outreach has not gone unnoticed as they won the Regional Engineering Inspiration Award at the Greater Pittsburgh Regional event in March and the Regional FIRST Impact Award at the Miami Valley Regional event in Cincinnati in April.

At the World Championship, Ryan Scott, senior and business and outreach lead for the team shared that his role has evolved over time to focus more on business and outreach aspects rather than programming or engineering. He said it’s an honor to be competing on a global stage and representing their school and community. The FIRST Robotics World Championship is part of an international youth organization For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology which promotes STEM education and innovation among students.