Building the Future

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Robotics Program

Ten years ago, physics teacher and Dr. Lewis F. McLean ’51, Endowed Science Chair Larry Hiller P’23,’28 started the robotics program with a single team, Electric Mayhem. Now he carries the distinguished title of Director of Robotics and oversees six middle and upper school Electric Mayhem teams that compete on regional, state, and international levels in the FIRST LEGO® League, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST Robotics Competitions. This year, Nichols robotics teams won 30 awards at their competitions and completed 1,556 hours of service and outreach.

When virtual learning increased the complexity of planning and hosting events during the pandemic, New York needed a new regional robotics leader. Hiller was happy to step up, recruiting colleague Sara Wells, a tenyear veteran of the FIRST program, now an upper school science teacher, to help coach the teams. With the assistance of two other teachers, 12 Work of Life student leaders, alumni, and community mentors, Nichols hosted the Inaugural LEGO® League Regional Championship. Robotics is a big draw for prospective students, who visit the lab on every school tour. Team members guide prospective students around their workspace and proudly talk about team events and future plans. “I’m excited for next year,” said Levi Mayer ’28, a member of the Middle School team that won first place in their category and came in fifth out of 42 teams overall at the regional finals.

When asked what she loves most about robotics, Mayer said, “It integrates real-world problems that we can help change.” Last year’s robotics competition theme was “Energy,” and their winning GymGen project used the energy left over from exercising to charge phones. The Robotics Program embodies the Nichols mission to “train minds, bodies, and hearts for the work of life,” teaching STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) through fun, handson learning. “Anyone who wants to build and program robots professionally can do so. This is work that will benefit the kids long-term,” stated Hiller.

With so many kids interested in the program, the robotics teams need more room to work—and grow. Over a hundred students participated this year—gaining on the number of students who play sports—and more students join the teams each year. The program needs more space to build and test projects, and a volleyball court-sized performance space is currently being planned.

Hiller and Wells hope to increase the number of robotics teams in Buffalo, allowing Nichols to host more events close to home and providing increased access to STEM to the community. “It’s easy to look at the program and think we have kids building robots. But what it feels like to us is that we’re using robots to build kids,” stated Hiller. n

Mentors Make a Difference

The robotics teams actively seek alumni and community experts to provide feedback, ideas, and inspiration for their projects. “If you have engineering experience, wish to be a mentor, or have an interest in art, we’d love your help,” said Wells. The theme for next year’s competition is “Art,” and students are already brainstorming ways to use technology to make, display, enhance, and teach art. “Having alumni come back and help out is amazing for them and awesome for the kids,” continued Wells. “These kids are growing into awesome people who will do great things. Seeing what they get out of building robots is a powerful experience.”