D'Penguineers

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Team 1717, the D’Penguineers, is a FIRST Robotics team associated with the Dos Pueblos High School Engineering Academy (DPEA) in Goleta, CA. The D’Penguineers have won multiple awards at the regional and international levels of the FIRST Robotics Competition, and participate regularly in outreach programs for junior high and elementary schools.

History

Team 1717, comprised of the 32-student senior class of the DPEA, began their first season during the 2006-2006 school year, under the direction of DPEA founder and director, Amir Abo-Shaeer. Since then, the D’Penguineers have participated annually in the FIRST Robotics Competition, developing new techniques for student education, team communication and collaboration, and build season preparation.

Pre-build season

Preparations for the robotics build season begin at the launch of the school year, where Team 1717 students take both an Advanced Engineering class and an ROP FIRST Robotics class. During the months leading up to the competition, students begin to specialize, in areas such as computer programming, CAD, electronics, and machining. Throughout the year the students are exposed not only to this educational specialization, but they also learn to manage the business aspects of the team--they also make up presentation teams, apparel managers, travel planners, and account managers, among others. The process of the actual creation of a robot, from initial brainstorms to paper planning to physical building, is a concept foreign to most high school students, and the pre-build season is devoted to developing the skills and team unity necessary to have a successful build season.

Build season

The FIRST Robotics Competition begins in January, when the game is revealed, and continues for six weeks, until the completed robot is shipped. Team 1717 assembles to watch the game video, and the build season is off to a running start. Over the following six weeks, each student on Team 1717 will spend over 360 hours working to collectively design, build, and program their game robot, as well as strategize and organize to find the most effective way to play the game.

Competitions

Once the Team 1717 “PenguinBot” has been shipped, the D’Penguineers attend regional FIRST Robotics Competitions and compete for their chance to go to the international FIRST Championship. In past years, Team 1717 has attended regional competitions in San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Arizona, and have qualified for the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, Georgia for three consecutive years.

Awards

• 2006 Southern California Regional: Rookie All-Star
• 2006 Arizona Regional: Rookie Inspiration Award
• 2007 San Diego Regional: Imagery Regional Finalist
• 2008 San Diego Regional: Delphi “Driving Tomorrow’s Technology” Regional Champion
• 2008 Los Angeles Regional: Delphi “Driving Tomorrow’s Technology” Regional Champion
• 2008 FIRST Championship: Finalist - Galileo Division
• 2009 Sacramento Regional: Motorola Quality Award, Regional Winner
• 2009 Los Angeles Regional: General Motors Industrial Design Award, Regional Finalist
• 2009 FIRST Championship: Championship- Motorola Quality Division Finalist -Galileo
• 2010 San Diego Regional: FIRST Dean’s List Finalist Award, Quality Award sponsored by Motorola, Regional Finalist
• 2010 Los Angeles Regional: Engineering Inspiration, Regional Engineering Inspiration Award, Regional Winner
• 2010 FIRST Championship: Quality Award sponsored by Motorola