Imagine if a teacher asked you to concisely summarize everything you learned over a school year in under two minutes. On September 26, 2017 we, as members of the Ctrl-Z Bayview Glen robotics team, were faced with a similar challenge, but instead we were asked by the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.
In September 2017, Ctrl-Z was invited to represent FIRSTCanada at the inaugural Prime Minister's Science Fair held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. There were 28 other students selected from across Canada (BC, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, PEI, and Newfoundland) to showcase their science projects at the event.
After arriving at around 10:30 p.m., we had to prepare for the big event the following day by charging the robot's batteries, lining up team materials, and most importantly learning how to iron our team jerseys!
The next morning, all 30 participants of the Science Fair gathered their projects and loaded them onto the coach bus that would be transporting the group over the course of the day. The first stop was the Wellington Building, just down the street from Parliament. Here, all the students would participate in a round table meeting with the Minister of Science, Kirsty Duncan, and the President of NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada), Dr. Mario Pinto. Without their science projects in hand, all the students and chaperones entered the building. Due to high security, it took almost an hour to make it to the meeting room, but it was well worth the effort. Each seat had a microphone and a set of headphones, and there was even a live translator for participants to hear simultaneous interpretation of French and English language. First, each student made introductory remarks to the Minister. Then the students each spoke about their science project, from a 10-year old student talking about the effects of advertising on the human senses to a 17-year old student describing research on cancer therapy with Nano technology. All found it inspirational to hear the students share their passion and to hear Minister Duncan and Dr. Pinto speak about their goals and how important it was for Canada’s future that youth be involved in STEM.
Following Minister Duncan’s round table, the students ate a light lunch and then boarded the bus for the final stop at the Langevin Block, the Office of the Prime Minister and Privy Council. This time, the students entered the building without the chaperones. Everyone unloaded their projects from the bus and brought them to security for inspection. We were given thirty minutes to set up our showcase, consisting of two 4’ x 8’ display boards, trophies, robot and playing field, and Pinder Pet Finder innovative solution. For the next hour, almost two dozen Members of Parliament visited our showcase. We demonstrated our autonomous robot and research project and discussed our accomplishments, all that we had learned, and how we have inspired other youth to get involved with STEM.
As the MP’s cleared out, guards secured all the entrances, and Justin Trudeau, accompanied by Dr. Mona Nemer, newly appointed Chief Science Advisor, Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, and an entire film crew, came up the stairs, and made their way to the end of the hall. As the students lined up side by side, the Prime Minister listened to their presentations one by one. Then, it was time for us to deliver our presentation. We had less than two minutes to explain everything to our audience. With all the practice over the years and the good luck from our oversized Canada hats that we wore at the FIRST Championships, we nailed the presentation. The Prime Minister was extremely impressed by how much Ctrl-Z has done to inspire youth, including mentoring a First Nations team in Toronto. In saying farewell, we gave Prime Minister Trudeau one of our Canada hats to remember Bayview Glen and the Ctrl-Z robotics team.
We will never forget our visit to Ottawa and how honoured we were to represent BVG and FIRST Canada in meeting with Canada’s leaders.
On Saturday, September 23, 2017, Ctrl-Z presented to many new and returning teams (over 280 attendees) at the FLL HYDRODYNAMICS Season Kick-off and Training Event hosted at Bayview Glen School. There, the team refreshed and helped improve many enthusiasts' building, programming, and research skills. It shared various concepts, from introductory to advanced, to help other teams make the best of this year’s season.
Over the course of the HYDRO DYNAMICS season, Ctrl-Z mentored FLL Team #16569 Heat Wave, consisting of grade 5 and grade 6 students from Glastonbury, Connecticut. We assisted our friends in Connecticut with robot (building and programming) and research project on bi-weekly Skype meetings. Congratulations to Heat Wave and Coach Wendy on winning Champion’s Award -1st Place (Wolcott Championship Award). Well deserved!!!!
On October 23, 2017, members of Ctrl-Z were invited by Lakeside Process Controls Ltd. to deliver presentations describing their ANIMAL ALLIES innovative solution, the Pinder Pet Finder smart collar, their robot, and the team’s 2017 FIRST Championships experience to approximately 80 engineers at the Company’s head office in Mississauga. The audience was impressed by the sophistication of the team’s programs which are used to create a fully autonomous robot to complete various missions. Lakeside team members were gracious in offering to provide technical expertise to Ctrl-Z to assist in advancing this season’s HYDRO DYNAMICS-themed research project.
On October 25, 2017, Ctrl-Z was invited to promote STEM and robotics at the SYNNEX Canada National Conference held at the Toronto Congress Center. When we arrived at the venue, we set up our booth with our Robot, Research and Core Values display boards. We also set up the ANIMAL ALLIES field mat and mission models to demonstrate last year's’ robot. Here’s how the day went. When we first walked into the tradeshow hall, we were excited to see all of the other exhibitors set up and could not wait to explore all of them. We were led to our own booth which had already been decorated with FIRST banners and table covers. We then added our Ctrl-Z display materials to the booth. Ctrl-Z team members were the only non-adults present at the event. Slowly but steadily, other exhibitors came to visit our booth. Many questions were asked and answered, such as, what is FLL? and how many parts are there to FLL? We explained our robot’s missions and programming, as well as the Pinder Pet Finder, the team’s innovative solution to reunite lost pets with their families. There were over 300 attendees at the conference. We demonstrated a couple of the robot missions on the ANIMAL ALLIES field and described the robot’s movements as our program advanced. For the research project, we demonstrated the Pinder Pet Finder and explained how it worked. Ctrl-Z team members really enjoyed the experience and thank SYNNEX Canada for the invitation. Hopefully we will be invited to future conferences.
On Saturday, November 4, 2017, Ctrl-Z shared its knowledge at an FLL Robotics Symposium, at St. Mildred's-Lightbourn School. It presented topics such as robot design, programming, research project, and the robot game. It offered workshops to approximately 40 FLL participants and coaches on a variety of topics and levels of difficulty so the attendees could maximize their learning. It presented topics such as robot design, programming and research project. It offered workshops on a variety of topics and levels of difficulty so the attendees could maximize their learning.
On November 18, 2017, Ctrl-Z spent the morning talking about FLL, as well showing our robot and our shower flowmeter innovative solution to dozens of guests at Bayview Glen School’s open house. People were amazed at what we could accomplish as a team.
On November 29, 2017, we presented our research and innovative solution in front of over 200 attendees from the Bayview Glen Middle School. We were asked interesting questions that showed the strengths of our invention, as well as our next steps. It was really a great learning experience for both the audience and us.
Members of Ctrl-Z were invited by Hon. Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science to attend Question Period at the Ontario Legislative Assembly on December 11, 2017. Hon. Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, introduced the team as follows: “There’s a group of students here today from Bayview Glen School in my riding, and I want to congratulate them because they won first place out of 32,000 other robotics teams worldwide…. The Ctrl-Z student team members are Matthew Wong, Harrison Cazzin, Alex Alexiev, Chloe Filice, Trent Rossos, Brianna Gonzalez and Daniel Gonzalez. Welcome to Queen’s Park and congratulations.” All the M.P.P.'s collectively clapped and cheered and it was an amazing feeling when that happened. The team members then watched the proceedings of Question Period from the balcony gallery which was fascinating. Following Question Period, the team members were given an opportunity to speak with both the Premier and the Minister about promoting STEM in the Province. Finally, official photographs with the Premier and Minister were taken on the Grand Staircase. Ctrl-Z expresses its gratitude to Mr. Rambod Afshari for his work in arranging the team’s visit to Queen’s Park.
On December 10, 2017, Ctrl-Z hosted members of FLL Team #2041, King Edward Pipe Cleaners, for an afternoon of robot attachment design and EV3 programming. The members of Ctrl-Z congratulate Coaches Emily and Caroline and team members Sebastian, Simon, Lydia and Shreela on a successful HYDRO DYNAMICS season. Best of luck at the upcoming Provincial Championships!
On January 8, 2018, we presented our Flow Finder pitch presentation to more than 500 students over two assemblies at both the Middle School and the High School at Bayview Glen. It provided us with the opportunity to practice our business pitch and inspired many of the attendees about STEM, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The York Angels graciously invited Ctrl-Z team members to observe investor presentations at their February 25, 2018 monthly Investor Meeting. This gave us the opportunity to see real startups pitch their businesses and their products to early stage investors. The question and answer period following each pitch gave us great insights into the key factors which seasoned investors consider when deciding whether or not to move forward with an investment. We were even able to share our HYDRO DYNAMICS innovative solution, the Flow Finder, to interested Angel Investors. Thank you to Ms. Jess Joss and Mr. Lucas Chang for this wonderful learning opportunity.
On March 17 and March 25, 2018, Team Ctrl-Z promoted BVG, FLL robotics and STEM at the Ryerson and York University District FRC events. FIRST Robotics Competition (“FRC”) challenges high-school-aged students, working with professional mentors, to design and build a large 120-pound robot, and participate in high-intensity competitions focusing on robot effectiveness, team strategy, collaboration and the determination of team members. The goal of Ctrl-Z’s demonstrations at Ryerson and York Universities was to increase the public’s awareness of FLL and STEM, taking advantage of the large FRC audience and the presence of FIRST VIPs who were in attendance.
On April 14, 2018, FLL Team 5831 Ctrl-Z was invited to promote FLL, STEM and Bayview Glen School at the FRC Ontario District Championships at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. At the event, members of Ctrl-Z demonstrated their HYDRO DYNAMICS robot and Flow Finder shower water meter to hundreds of FRC competitors and spectators. The team members were delighted to learn that Ctrl-Z had been inducted into the FIRST Robotics Ontario Walk of Fame in recognition of last season’s win at the FLL FIRST Championships in St. Louis. Ctrl-Z is honored to be in the company of other prior FIRST Championship winners such as FRC Team 1114 Simbotics of St. Catharines, (Chairman’s Award and Robot Performance), FRC Team 610 of Toronto (Robot Performance) and FLL Team 3663 of Oakville (Champions Award).
On April 30, 2018, Team Ctrl-Z participated in the Ontario Centres of Excellence ("OCE") Discovery conference held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. At the conference, Ctrl-Z maintained a 10' x 10' trade show booth along with 550 other exhibitors in the cavernous 200,000 square foot show floor. Throughout the day there was a constant flow of visitors to the booth as both conference attendees and other exhibitors were intrigued by Ctrl-Z's recent inventions: the Flow Finder shower meter and the Pinder Pet Finder smart pet collar. The event was an excellent opportunity for Ctrl-Z team members to meet other innovators and potentially partner and collaborate with members of the startup community, industry, academia and government. For Ctrl-Z, the highlight of the event was when Mr. Tom Corr, President and CEO of the Ontario Centres of Excellence, introduced the team during the opening ceremonies as the winners of last season's FIRST Championship in St. Louis and the standing ovation given by over 3,000 attendees.
On May 5, 2018, Ctrl-Z showcased their research project and HydroDynamics robot run at the 2018 Alumni Reunion in our school.
Members of Ctrl-Z were interviewed by Mike Drolet of Global News that ran Canada wide on the topic "should coding be mandatory in schools?"
