PHS Robotics team wins big in Idaho

The Poway High School Robotics team (Team Spyder 1622) came home from the Idaho Regional competition with heads held high after winning the highest award and securing a spot in the International Worldwide Championship FIRST Robotics Competition in St. Louis later this month.

Team Spyder received the Chairman’s Award, which is the top award at the regional event, said Rodger Dohm, the head coach of the robotics team. There were 30 teams competing at the Idaho regional.

The Chairman’s Award honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of the FIRST robotics competition. It is a special accomplishment for Team Spyder because it took five years to win as an entire team accomplishment, said Dohm. The award encompasses everything to industrial design to engineering and fabrication, entrepreneurship, mentorship, STEM outreach, public speaking, professional writing and community outreach.

This was the first time Team Spyder won the Chairman’s Award at a regional competition. The team also took home the Imagery Award, which is given in honor of Jack Kamen, a prolific EC comics artist who drew crime, horror, humor, suspense and science fictions stories, including the comic “Tales from the Crypt.”

This award is based on attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetic integration of machine and team appearance. This is the fourth time Team Spyder has won the Imagery Award at a regional event. The team won for its branding its image into all aspects of the team, creating a professional business and marketing standard for other teams to follow, according to a press release from Team Spyder.

Team Spyder was also awarded for its safety, winning the Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award for the 15th time since 2005. This award is given to teams that consistently demonstrates excellence in industrial safety performance throughout the competition. One member of Team Spyder, Carly Custodio, was awarded the Safety Star of the Day award at the competition.