BurnabystudentssetforVEX roboticsworldchampionships

twice in a row

In just its second year after a lengthy hiatus, a Burnaby school district robotics club is sending its second team to the world championships this spring

Based out of Alpha Secondary School, the district’s mechatronics and robotics program began participating inVEX Robotics competitions again last year after a two-year pause

After a rocky start, one of its robots “came out of nowhere” and qualified for theVEX Robotics world championships inTexas last spring, according to coach and technology teacher James Zhuang.

Based on this year’s results, however, that was no fluke

The club, dubbedThe Swarm, has once again qualified a robot for the worlds after a successful tournament season

The Swarm started the season with two senior teams, who started working on their robots in Sep- tember, and six rookie teams, who got to work in October

Every spring, after the VEX world championships, organizers announce a new skill-testing game, and students around the world spend the whole year designing, building and perfecting machines to play the game better than their opponents.

Teams continue to modify and improve their robots all season

The Swarm’s robots competed in a total of eight tournaments and two skills-only com- petitions, according to Zhuang

Three of them qualified for the provincial championships at the Langley Events Centre on March

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One of the robots, 502W (designed by Grade 10 students StevenYuan, Adam Chan, Ethan Louie, Wellington Chan, Aaron Lew and AidenTam), made it to the semifinals, earned an Amaze award, placed second in skills and qualified for the worlds in Dallas,Texas at the end of April

“Their skill score is ranked 26th in the world out of over 5,000 teams and 50 countries,” Zhuang said “It is an outstanding achievement in such a short time.”

Another Swarm robot, 502X (designed by Grade 12 students Scott Favaro and Luke McQuillen and Grade 11 student David Dorland), earned a judge’s award but didn’t advance.

Making their first appearance at a provincial championship were Grade 9 students Lucas Lu, AdamVocadlo, Daniel Dorland and Arek Hong, who designed robot 502V.

An “antiquated” software system run by the city is causing major headaches for parents trying to register their kids for rec programs in Burnaby

More than 600 parents lined up in person at Burnaby rec centres last Wednesday morning to sign up their kids for swim classes, the city’s parks and recreation general manager told the NOW

The new GM of parks and rec, Mary Morrison-Clark, said part of the problem is the city’s “antiquated software system” and called the issue “unacceptable ”

The city has used the current software program for almost 30 years, according to a recent staff report

Morrison-Clark said the city is planning to bring in a new online registration system as soon as possible

“What I saw this week as GM is a completely unacceptable level of customer service, and I can do nothing but apologize to the residents of Burnaby because this shouldn’t happen again,” she said.

Burnaby parents lined up at 6 a.m. at Bonsor Recreation Complex on Wednesday, with some taking the day off work, to get the chance to sign their kids up for a coveted spot in swimming lessons

By 8 a.m., almost 100 Burnaby parents were lined up

Multiple parents expressed frustration with the registration system.

Sandeep Nair came to BonsorWednesday morning at 6 a m to sign up his two sons Registration was set to start at 10 a m

Nair said he has been registering in-person for the last two years, as it’s a better option than using Burnaby’s online registration system

“By 9 (a.m.) the website crashes,” Nair said “You can’t get through online, and by phone you can’t call because they’re all busy You can’t get through by phone at all ”

He said he’s lost out on signing up for classes in the past.

“It is across every centre in Burnaby,” Nair said, and added, “Everyone is busy You won’t be able to get in touch with them

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