The Edison High Robotics Team, Team Faraday, competed in the FIRST Tech Challenge New Jersey State Championship, held on March 6, 2022. The team placed 18th out of the 50 teams that competed this year.

This was the second consecutive year Team Faraday qualified for states.

“Qualifying last year, when I was a junior year, was very surprising given the lack of resources the team had,” said Pranav Chundi ‘22, the team captain. “However, this year, we had a larger budget due to greater funding and outreach, which allowed us to build a more competitive robot and therefore qualify.”

Without any funding from Edison High School for the past two years, Team Faraday chose to set up a GoFundMe. They raised awareness about the club while increasing their budget. Additionally, the team reached out to local businesses, like The Coffee House & Cafe, to set up awareness stands to gain more funding and bring customers to the business.

Edison High has a history in robotics.

“Originally, the team was founded as EagleTec Robotics in 2013. However, they didn’t really get much done. When I was a sophomore, I decided to take over and revive the club,” said Chundi. “Ever since then, I have taught others the skills necessary to excel at robotics and lead a team of considerable size.”

The state championship proved to be a great learning experience for the team members.

“Overall, I was able to network with other teams and learn about new strategies which we could potentially use in upcoming competitions,” said Masumi Chhabria ‘23.

“I was able to learn about new parts and their potential uses which improved my knowledge of hardware.” added Pranav Devaraju ‘24. 

The team aims to place higher next season with more funding and knowledge.

“I believe this club has a strong future that will allow it to continue placing at the state level, and perhaps even nationally,” said Chundi.