On Sept. 11, the Robotics club at Bonita Vista High (BVH) was visited by DPR Construction, a commercial general contractor and construction management firm, with the prospect of sponsoring the club. International Baccalaureate (IB) Literature HL1 teacher and Robotics club advisor Jason Good explains that this company utilizes robotics to assist with construction and how the sponsorship will potentially help aid the club.
“DPR is a local construction oriented company, but they specialize in retrofitting technology-based buildings. They [work on] research institutes and use robotics to map out and plan chalk lines,” Good said.
With a club focused on engineering and building robots comes financial difficulties. Good has been working with several different companies to receive a sponsorship. He explains the search for a sponsor has been an extensive one but he is happy to make progress with DPR on a potential sponsorship.
“I have been talking to different companies for the last four years to try to find sponsorships. One that we have come close to this year is [from] DPR, but they have not necessarily decided to sponsor us yet,” Good said.
With DPR being a construction company in an evolving landscape of technology, there is no doubt that they will support industries surrounding robotics and engineering, something that the club excels in. Good explains that the visit from DPR was aimed at scouting the club and what they had to offer.
“They are looking for spaces where they can gain access to being able to chat with students about the industry and opportunities to work with students on robotics, engineering and coding principles. With our club, what they’re looking for is the size of it, how many students are actually involved and the dedication to it,” Good said. “They are also looking for groups that are Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) oriented and working on projects similar to things that they work on at their company.”
During their visit, DPR employees scouted out the members of the club to ascertain what exactly the club was working on that day, such as the process of how BVH’s Robotics club builds their robots. BVH Robotics club president and senior Sebastian Higuera-Rodelo elaborates on their visit.
“People from the company came to see us build and practice our robots. They saw everyone working on their robots or code. They went around and asked people, ‘What do you do? What does your robot do? How is the process of building?’,” Higuera-Rodelo said.
With the sponsorship comes materialistic support with resources such as computers, workbenches and tools to assist with building. Good explains that the company is not set on providing money but instead available resources..
“DPR is not big on providing [an allowance], so they are going to be providing resources. The big one for us and the one that I feel fairly confident we are going to get sometime in the next month is computers, then workbenches and tools is another one that they have been talking about,” Good said.
Good explains that resources like the computers will provide a huge efficiency boost to the club’s overall workflow since school-issued laptops, “are bottlenecks for the club.” The computers will also enhance the way the club approaches blueprints for their robots.
“Computers are important because we are sitting here trying to use the school laptops. So [the new computers are] going to increase efficiency. It is also going to change the way that we can plan for robots, which will ultimately hugely benefit [their] designs and make them more successful,” Good said.
The club’s main focus centers around the VEX competition, a national year-round tournament focused on robotics. Higuera-Rodelo shares similar views with Good, stating that the provided resources could give them an advantage over their other competitors in the league.
“I think it is definitely going to give us an equal playing field against other teams in the league because previously we have been underfunded. Now it is like whatever we need, we are able to get it,” Higuera-Rodelo said.
BVH Robotics club member and senior Angela Magtoto explains that the club has never qualified for a placement within the VEX tournament, but believes that with the added potential support from DPR Construction, they will be able to.
“One of our goals coming into this year was to qualify for [tournament] seats, which we have never done in the history of the club. We also just want to be more competitive in this space [since] we are a pretty new team compared to other schools like Otay [Ranch High] and Olympian [High],” Magtoto said.
With the prospect of being sponsored by an external company comes planned aspirations and goals, something that is shared between all Robotics club members. Magtoto explains her perspective on the situation.
“I think it is awesome that a company wanted to help us and what excites me the most is that we get more tools to help us build our robots and that helps us win more competitions,” Magtoto said.
