(New Hartford, NY – March 2015) New Hartford High School Junior, Ryan Payne was selected as one of two FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) 2015 Dean’s List Finalists representing the Empire New York Region.
The Empire New York FTC region covers 66 counties from Buffalo to Yonkers with nearly 100 teams.
FIRST, an acronym for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology” offers FIRST Tech Challenge as part of a series of robotics programs for students age 6 through 18. In an effort to recognize the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding secondary school students, the Kamen family, led by inventor and FIRST founder Dean Kamen, sponsors the FIRST Dean’s List awards for selected 10th or 11th grade student participants in FIRSTTech Challenge and FIRST Robotics Competition.
Similar to the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Award, there are three levels of FIRSTDean’s List Award students. Students are nominated by their teams as Semi-Finalists at Qualifying Tournaments, Finalists are selected at Regional Championships, and 10 winners from FTC are selected for the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, Mo. April 22 to 25.
Winners receive a trophy, written recommendation colleges, credit towards next season’s registration fee, a commemorative plaque, and an invitation to attend an expense paid FIRST Dean’s List Award Summit at FIRST headquarters in Manchester, NH.
The students who earn FIRST Dean’s List status at all levels are examples of current student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased awareness for FIRST and its mission while achieving personal technical expertise and accomplishment.
Since its introduction in 2010, the FIRST Dean’s List Award has attracted the attention of prestigious colleges and universities who desire to have FIRST Dean’s List students apply for admissions.
Criteria for selection of FIRST Dean’s List Award includes a student’s demonstrated leadership and commitment to the ideals of FIRST, effectiveness at increasing FIRST awareness, interest in and passion for a long-term commitment to FIRST, overall individual contribution to their team, technical expertise and passion, entrepreneurship and creativity, and ability to motivate and lead fellow team members.
Payne logged more than 700 hours of community outreach in five seasons with FIRST Tech Challenge, mentoring, volunteering and demonstrating robots.
Recent RoboSpartan team projects include hosting the Central New York FTC Qualifying Tournament at SUNY Poly, the annual CNY Kick-Off Chassis Quick Build and monthly scrimmages, and reaching out to Upstate Cerebral Palsy to help establish both FIRST LEGO League and FIRST The Challenge teams. The team also hosts a growing FTC TEC Network, a Google Community promoting peer learning with 100 teams from 27 States and 7 Countries.
Payne joined FIRST in 2007, initially on a school-based team, and later helping his parents form an independent team, the RoboSpartans. His team went on to a North American Championship their first season and the World Championship as a Regional Champion and Core Values Ambassador Team.
In 2010, the RoboSpartans joined FIRST Tech Challenge, an affordable, highly competitive high-school level robotics program with more than 3,800 teams worldwide.
At the 2013 FTC World Championship, Payne and his team received recognition as fourth place finalists for the prestigious Inspire Award as well as fifth place for the Connect and Think Awards.
This season, the RoboSpartans won Inspire Award and Winning Alliance Captain trophies at the Northern York FTC Championship at Clarkson University.
In January, the team won a second Inspire Award at the Capital Region FTC Qualifier in Albany. In both tournaments, the team’s robot was undefeated in qualifying matches while the team was noted as a stellar example of an inspirational FIRST Tech Challenge team on and off the field.
Payne and fellow team members from New Hartford, Whitesboro and Utica are heading to the East Super Regional Championship at the University of Scranton, March 19 to 21 with their sights set on inclusion in this year’s World Championship.