Outreach

Oct 9, 2026 · MIT, Cambridge

Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory at MIT

We spent an afternoon at MIT's Francis Bitter Magnet Laboratory, now part of the Plasma Science and Fusion Center. Dr. Jagadeesh Moodera, a senior research scientist in MIT Physics, hosted us. His group studies thin films of magnetic and superconducting materials.

He showed us copper plates from the lab's Bitter magnets and walked us through the vacuum systems and cryostats his group uses. We finished at a lab bench, cooling a superconductor with liquid nitrogen and testing it with small magnets.

Thank you to Dr. Moodera for hosting us.

2026 · Metal 3D printing

Touring VulcanForms

We toured VulcanForms, a Massachusetts company that makes metal parts with 3D printing. It prints them on laser powder bed fusion machines it designs and builds itself, where dozens of lasers melt fine metal powder one thin layer at a time. The parts are then machined and inspected in-house before they go to customers in aerospace, medical, energy, and other industries.

Tours like this show us how engineers work outside of FTC. Thank you to VulcanForms for having us.

Ongoing · Online, South Africa

Mentoring Phuthanang Youth Trust

Phuthanang Youth Trust (PYT) is a community organisation in Soweto, South Africa. Since 2004 it has helped young people in Jabavu with skills training and education. We meet with their students over video calls to help them get started in FIRST Tech Challenge.

On our first call we explained how an FTC season works: a new game every year, a robot you design, build, and program yourself, and matches played in alliances with other teams. We also talked about what robotics has taught us, from strategy and technical skills to leading a team.

We'll keep meeting with them to answer questions and share what our first two seasons taught us.

Week of Aug 17, 2026

Robotics/Engineering Summer Camp

We spent a week of the summer running a robotics and engineering camp for about 13 students in grades 4–8. Campers learned the basics of both VEX IQ and FIRST LEGO League: building drivetrains and mechanisms, writing block code, and running missions on a real FLL table.

Between robot sessions, campers took on hands-on engineering challenges, like an egg drop and designing and flying their own airplane gliders.

On Friday, the last day, campers showed off their robots to their families at a showcase, driving VEX robots on the field and running their FLL missions.

Sep 23, 2025 · 2025–26 FLL season

Coaching Weston's FLL Teams

We helped Weston's FIRST LEGO League program grow from 4 teams to 17 teams and 122 students, including 10 brand-new 4th and 5th grade teams at Field School. Money raised from our summer camp covered registration for all 10 of those teams, and the camp helped recruit and train new parent coaches.

On Sep 23 we ran a practice scrimmage so the teams could get a feel for a real qualifier. All season we mentored coaches and students on running weekly meetings, programming their robots, and managing their time. 9 of the 10 Field School teams competed at MA qualifiers, and 2 advanced to States.

Feb 2026

Clark University Robotics Showcase

We mentored and took part in a robotics showcase at Clark University hosted by Galactic Einsteins, a team we've supported for a long time. Made up mostly of students from South Africa, Galactic Einsteins is helping make FIRST more inclusive and spread its values to a wider community.

September 29, 2024

Cambridge Science Festival

We ran FTC robot demonstrations with our sister team, GNCE Diamond, and explained FIRST to visitors.

November 23, 2024

FLL Mock Qualifier

We hosted a practice qualifier for five Weston FIRST LEGO League teams. We ran robot matches and judged each team the way a real qualifier would.