By Maddy Cooper
They’re not just building robots, they’re building their futures.
And Delta High School sophomore Grant Durkovich is ready for that future.
Durkovich is one of four Delta High School students that participate in an out-of-school competitive robotics club through the Muncie Techwise Academy and Ball State University.
Alongside Durkovich are his teammates freshman Kiptyn Berry, sophomore Caleb Hunter and junior Mason Hopper.
And they have one thing in common, wanting to further their futures within engineering.
Durkovich and Berry both say they hope to get a degree in either aerospace or mechanical engineering while Hunter says he wants to focus on computer or electrical engineering.
This is where the club comes into play.
The team focuses on every aspect of engineering, from building the robot to programming how it operates. Each team member works on a different aspect of the robot.
Hunter and Hopper are the team builders and robot programmers. Durkovich is the driver at competitions. Berry works with a different team at competitions, one made up of students from Yorktown High School.
The team then competes with that robot they built at regional competitions to try to qualify for a larger state competition later in the year.
The competition consists of an initial robot inspection to make sure that every robot entry fits the parameters of the competition.
The team has had instances where they quickly needed to cut off a piece of the robot so that it fits competition parameters or they would’ve been disqualified.
Next, is bracket-like matches where teams compete against each other until there is one winner. That winner qualifies for state.
Within these matches, teams must try to pick up different items and place them in marked areas with their robots while another team is doing the same. The points are then calculated by where the items end up within the 10 by 12 foot robot arena.
There are smaller competitions called “Skills” where teams can attempt to earn more points to qualify for state in between matches at the competition.
After the state competition, teams can try to move on to a more prestigious world competition.
However, the team has not been able to qualify for the next level yet.
Earlier this year, they lost a regional match to “one of the best teams [at the competition]”, Durkovich says.
Through this loss, the team has learned that it takes a team to win, but it also takes a team to lose.
Together, they have lost by a point in the last seconds of competition, but have also won matches when they were not expecting to advance.
They have learned that communication is key to their success.
“You have to get to know your teammates well, and learn how to communicate with them, to be able to win,” Durkovich says.
This communication has to be built by trusting your team.
This trust comes from hours, or even years, of practice and problem solving together.
Durkovich and Hunter have been participating in robotics clubs together for the past six years.
Throughout these years, their interests in robotics have grown and furthered their desires to work in engineering.
However, students did not always have to go outside of school to participate in robotics.
In past years, there were classes at DHS for students who were interested in robotics and engineering that were taught by Mr. Kurt Griffis.
There are still classes dedicated to construction and design, but having robotics classes at DHS was a way to introduce more students to different aspects of engineering.
But that has not stopped students from continuing their participation in robotics.
Being able to still be involved in robotics and engineering while in high school has allowed these students to prepare for their futures.
“Being on this team has given me an opportunity to continue my passion for engineering,” Hunter says.
Whether they are building robots, programming computers, or operating their creations, these teammates are ready to take the next steps of their engineering careers.
