Welcome

Doreen ’25 began her study of robotics at home in China in elementary school. It was a family member who inspired her to pursue Python Programming and pointed her in the direction of a local robotics club. It is that very club, called IFT, with which Doreen traveled to Dallas, Texas from April 25 - May 1 to compete in the Vex Robotics World Championship, the largest robotics competition in the world, as a member of twenty-person Club China. Club China is made up of three teams, one middle school team and two high school teams. 

Teams from across the country and around the world descended on Dallas for the annual tournament, which boasts multiple divisions. Colleges and universities are also present to recruit up-and-coming talent from middle schools, high schools, and colleges. At the Vex Championship, diverse types of robotics expertise are on display. For Doreen, her area of expertise is in machine building— and she stepped into this role successfully for Team China. Other areas of expertise include machine operating, machine strategy, and machine programming. Doreen explained that collaboration is an important aspect of robotics competitions, “...while the machine operator serves as the de facto team leader, it is a truly collaborative process between the builders, operators, strategists, and programmers to ensure overall success.” At Vex, Doreen’s team’s final result was top 8 within the math division, which placed the team in the top tier among all divisions. Congratulations, Doreen!

This academic year, Doreen spearheaded the SBS Robotics Club. Having taken SBS’s Global Technology course as a Grade 9 student and having worked with roboticists from across China, Doreen was prepared to engineer this STEM opportunity at SBS. As Club President, Doreen partners with her Global Technology teacher, Jeshua Quinones-Santiago, who serves as Club Advisor. 

In collaboration with Quinones-Santiago, Doreen began by teaching Python Programming and then introduced the Freenove Robot Dog, which allowed the Club to begin to understand the movement aspect of robotics. Doreen intends to scale the Club’s knowledge by teaching the Vex Robotics structure next. Each robotics endeavor offers a different learning opportunity, thereby diversifying the Club’s knowledge base and skill set. Doreen’s ultimate goal is to cover all four elements of robotics: building, operating, strategizing, and programming.

As the Club is primarily composed of beginner roboticists, Doreen hopes that the Club will be strong enough to compete at the Vex Championship in the coming years. In order to qualify as a Vex Championship team, the Club would have to succeed at various regional competitions. The Vex Championship provides an excellent opportunity for students from across the country and around the world to connect with one another as well as with college, universities, and future potential employers, something Doreen hopes for her fellow SBS roboticists.

Beyond SBS, Doreen is interested in pursuing environmental science for her future studies and career, and she is confident that her knowledge of and passion for robotics will serve this goal. According to Doreen, “...robotics supports the practice of logical, organized, and creative problem-solving…”, and she hopes to utilize these skills to enact positive environmental change.

In addition to spearheading the SBS Robotics Cub, Doreen is also a member of Blue Key Society and Octet, participates in theater and fitness, and plays volleyball. Brava, Doreen!