SILER CITY - The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 3822 from Jordan-Matthews High School in Siler City has received several grants.

The grants include a $5,000 NASA Sustaining grant, a $1,000 Chatham Education Foundation grant, and a $1,000 Qualcomm grant. In addition, the team has received a Cube 3D printer from Ekocycle, along with a sponsorship from QORVO.

There are currently 18 students and seven mentors involved with the Jordan-Matthews team. Justin Harper is the mentor from Jordan-Matthews. Sandra Castonguay, Central Carolina Community College's Lead Electronics Instructor, is the coach. The grant writer for the team is CCCC Physics Instructor Lisa Knight. Victor Knight of QORVO is programming mentor. Other mentors include Jerry Clendenen, adjunct instructor at Central Carolina Community College; Larry Baird of Larry Baird Welding; and Zach May of CISCO.

FRC combines the excitement of sport with the rigors of science and technology. Teams of 10 students or more are challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build and program a robot to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It's as close to "real world" engineering as a student can get. Professional mentors volunteer their time and talents to guide each team.

The FIRST teams compete every year against other teams for the opportunity to go to nationals in St. Louis. This year, the theme of the competition is Recycle Rush. It involves the robots to move plastic totes, trash cans, and pick-up pool noodles. The teams have six weeks after learning what the theme is every year to design, build, and program their robot. At the end of the six weeks, teams have to bag the robot and put a security tag on it so they can't work on it until time for competition.

For more information on the CCCC Electronics Engineering Technology program, contact CCCC Electronics Engineering Technology Lead Instructor Sandra Castonguay at 919-718-7331 or email scastonguay@cccc.edu. Also, learn more about the Electronics Engineering Technology program at www.cccc.edu/curriculum/majors/electronicsengineering.