Glitch 2.0 - Mentor Moms take Team to State Finals
By Meg Hale Brunton
Annie Hawes and Katie Campbell were not exactly women in the world of STEM (Science, Technologies, Engineering and Mechanics), they were just moms who wanted the best for their children. “I have a really loud voice and I really adore and love my kids,” explains Annie. This year, both women became coaches/mentors for the student-led robotics team housed at Asheville High School, Glitch 2.0.
Annie’s daughter Chloe was in the original Glitch robotics team (then, held at UNC-Asheville). “I started doing robotics with her in fourth grade and moved up with her,” Annie explains. Chloe was accepted into the North Carolina School of Science and Math at age sixteen, and is now completing her electrical engineering degree at NC State University. When Glitch’s coach retired in 2022, Annie stepped up to keep the program going to make sure it was as helpful to future kids as it was for hers. Her son Bryce is team captain for the current Glitch team, 8727, and will be attending NC State for engineering this Fall.
For Katie, Glitch was the natural next step after her son Ben excelled in the FIRST Lego League at Claxton Elementary School, which was run by Annie. The Glitch team allowed him to join when he was still in the 8th grade. “Any student who wants to join can,” Katie explains. Glitch 2.0 currently has 43 members of students from Asheville High and SILSA, as well as one homeschooled student. She adds that there are no dues charged to the team members and that everything is paid for through their fundraising and donations. Now, Katie is a first-year coach and Ben (17) is the team’s programming lead. Last March at the FNC Charlotte Competition, Ben won the District Championship Dean’s List Semi-Finalist award for his work on the team.
This year, team 8727 built a robot called Mega Stuf. It is 102 pounds without batteries. The team designed Mega Stuf on AutoCAD, decided what materials they would need to build it, ordered the parts, built it, programmed it, and operated it all on their own. “That’s what I love about this. Our team is totally student-led,” says Katie. “I have loved seeing the whole thing come together! The project collaboration experience has been amazing!” She and Annie do acknowledge that they have help from an impressive team of volunteer mentors with backgrounds in companies like Apple, RedHat, Borg-Warner, and General Electric. Despite this accomplished support, the coaches are quick to clarify that the kids do all the work.
In order to compete at the annual FIRST Robotics Competition, the robot had to be built within strict requirements and be able to do a variety of unmanned tasks. Design Lead Liam Milner (16) explains that it took about six weeks to fully build the versatile robot, and that he contributed over 80 hours of design work. “Glitch has just changed my life,” he says. Liam hopes to go on to study Mechanical Engineering with a focus on Mechatronics or Aeronautics. He credits a great deal of his ambition to his time on the Glitch team. “When I came into high school, I had zero knowledge of how robotics worked, how designing worked. In that first year, I went from knowing nothing to being a Design Lead. It was a big step and I felt really happy about that.”
“I’ve had a lot of fun getting to design stuff and see it get built, and be part of the process,” says the team’s Mechanical Lead Alex Boniske (17), adding that he is a bit obsessed with robotics since this experience. He goes on to say that the Glitch team is open to everybody, whether they are interested in CAD (Computer-aided design), coding, electrical work, or even woodworking. “It’s just a great opportunity. Anybody who does anything related to STEM can join.”
For the team’s pit and safety captain, Gabriella Bluestone (16), her big contribution to the group came during the competition. During the match, Mega Stuf (along with two other robots) has to oppose a team of three other robots to complete a list of tasks in a series of around fifteen 2.5-minute matches. It’s Gabriella’s job to make sure that everything runs smoothly and everyone is doing their job. “It was the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me. Being in the pit is the most wonderful thing. It’s where the action is,” she explains. At first, Gabriella says she was nervous about taking on the role since she was an underclassman and had no real background in tech. “I was a theatre person through and through. It helps in robotics because I’m really outgoing.” While Gabriella admits there were technical difficulties at first, she definitely feels she earned her team’s respect.
The students even did their own fundraising and outreach. Outreach Lead Rachel White (18) coordinated the team’s outreach for volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and Greenworks. Collectively, the team raised $36,000 for the team’s endeavors. Business and Econ Captain Joe Kledis (17) managed the team’s branding and even put together a comprehensive plan for budget, finance, structure and success, while prioritizing team longevity. This plan won the team two Sustainability awards in competition, making Team 8727 the first NC team to win at the championship level for business and operations. “It’s a pretty proud achievement of mine,” Joe says. “It’s given me a mission, I suppose.”
In addition to the Sustainability Awards, Team 8727 won at the FNC State Championship in Greenville, NC. They also won the award for Best Design and Execution/Excellence in Engineering at the competition in Mecklenburg, NC. In April they took Mega Stuf to the state finals at Eastern Carolina University where they came in 12th. Glitch 2.0 Team 8727 is currently ranked 17th of the 76 teams in North Carolina.
For more information, visit their website: www.glitch8727.com