Congrats to our Bulldog Bots, who are heading to the World Finals! Over the weekend, our Upper School Robotics Team, Team #207 Critical Mass, qualified to compete in the FIRST World Championship, which will take place Wednesday, April 29, through Saturday, May 2, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. “We will be one of 336 teams from around the world, representing the top 3 percent of teams that competed this year!” exclaimed Coach Fleischl. “Our students have collectively put in thousands of hours of work throughout a long season that stretches back to the start of the school year. In that time, team members designed and constructed numerous mechanical prototypes, programmed the robot to score autonomously, practiced efficient driving, and worked countless hours mentoring younger students both within the D-E community and in the community at large,” he added.

According to team member Rajan Dhillon ’28, the competition was intense, but incredibly rewarding. “As a driver, there was constant pressure to perform my best for the team, and every decision mattered. Things didn’t always go our way… but those moments pushed us to think fast, problem solve, and adapt our strategy,” he said. “Seeing all our hard work pay off made it worth it!” Teammate Alexa Wanich ’28 shared, “It was always difficult to tell how the competition was going, but when they announced our team name [as the winner], I think that was the craziest part.” Good luck in Houston, Critical Mass!