A South Surrey secondary school’s students are celebrating a major win after their robotics team took first place at an international competition in early March.
Grandview Heights’ Team 9180, known better as Team Ursa Major, won the FIRST Robotics Canadian Pacific Regional at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum last month, competing against 44 teams from across Canada and around the world.
The team’s robot, Alioth, was designed and built in just seven weeks, shared team captain and Grade 12 student Pietro Faria.
“Since we are Team 9180 Ursa Major, we name all our robots after stars in the constellation,” added Grade 9 student Shannon Zhu, who is in charge of the team’s marketing and media efforts.
Scott Smith, the robotics teacher sponsor for Team Ursa Major explained he told the students this was all their project. He said it made him happy seeing them work through everything leading up to the competition and also, during.
“When the robot shoots a ball, they’re all high-fiving and jumping around and that’s when it’s like, ‘Wow!’” said Smith.
The annual competition challenges students to create a robot capable of completing a new game each season.
Team administrative lead and Grade 11 student Aikhem Rai explained this year’s challenge involved scoring points by shooting yellow game balls into a six-foot-tall hub during fast-paced matches.
Each match begins with 30 seconds of fully autonomous gameplay, followed by a driver-controlled period, with teams competing in ranking rounds after advancing to playoffs.
“On paper it looks very simple, but then you actually see it happen and it goes by so fast,” said Zhu. “There’s so much stress and intensity in it.”
Ursa Major advanced through two days of preliminary rounds before entering a tight, three-round final alongside alliance partners from Hawaii and Ontario.
Once the final round was completed and the results were being read out loud, Zhu shared that she was severely nervous. It was Ursa Major team captain Faria who kept the mood light and everyone calm.
“When they announced ‘We want to select 9180’, I screamed,” recounted Zhu, adding how ecstatic the whole team was. “The excitement that everyone has when it all comes together is just absolutely exuberant.”
A big blue banner now hangs in the front entrance at the school showcasing the big win.
Zhu joked that the win was all due to their toy fish Phineas, who was strapped to the front of their robot.
“We put him on the cart and we started winning.”
The team is made up of multiple departments, all working together to ensure the robot performs at its best, Faria noted.
“It’s not just about physically building it,” Faria said. “There’s electrical, programming, designing, and even the business and media side of things.”
Grade 12 student and head coder Tawesha Palmer added that collaboration between departments is essential.
“If one part isn’t working, like mechanics, then the code doesn’t work and the same goes the other way,” Palmer said. “It’s a lot of back and forth.”
“At the end of the day, it’s not just for the people who really love tech. There’s a field in here for everyone, and a space for everyone,” continued Zhu.
Zhu, Faria, Rai, Palmer and Smith all emphasized the importance of every role on the team and the welcoming environment they’ve built.
“No matter who you are, this is a place where if you put in the hard work, we’ll accept you. We are all bonded here for a love (of) the game,” said Zhu.
Even for those without a background in robotics, the team encourages students to get involved.
“I never really had an interest in robots and I came here because I heard about the community, and I found love in this community so I stuck around,” said Rai.
Beyond competition results, the team is also focused on making an impact in their community.
Rai explained that FIRST Robotics places a strong emphasis on outreach, with teams often recognized through the competitions Impact Award, which celebrates community involvement as much as technical success.
This is an award the team hopes to achieve in the near future.
Team Ursa Major regularly hosts workshops, supports youth robotics programs and works to build interest in younger students so that they can one day join the Grandview Heights team too.
Despite their win, the team narrowly missed qualifying for the world championships in Houston after alliance selections.
Still, their victory places them as the top-ranked robotics team in B.C., a milestone the school is proudly celebrating.
Looking ahead, the team hopes to expand their competition experience next year, with plans to attend a regional event in Montreal.
Smith shared that the dedication from the students is what continues to stand out, year after year.
“There’s no assessment, no marks – they just come because they want to be here,” he said. “If they didn’t want to be here, it wouldn’t work.”