In the year 3017, robots will take over the world, but for now, they are controlled by high school students, with Cassidy Nguyen ‘17 being one from the Jesuit High School robotics team. In Cassidy’s Junior year the team lost to Canada during the international championship in Texas.  However, the students have been working all year for a comeback for first prize this week, in Long Beach.  The Jesuit High School robotics team won their last underwater championship in 2015.

Long Beach is one of the biggest ports in the United States in terms of importing and exporting goods.  However, sometimes the crates shippers drop in the ocean can be hazardous.  This year, the team’s robot must embark on a mission to scan for hazardous materials inside such crates, such as gasoline or any form of nitrate or sulfate.  The robot must also replace fountain heads of a water show, Cassidy said, like a water show in Los Angeles or Disneyland.

The robotics team also has to present a technical report to a corporation, marketing their product.

“It is the hardest part because we are just high school students presenting to a corporation when they already have expertise,’’ Cassidy said. “Engineering and building a program, is not really the point in robotics. The point is to build in all aspects of your corporate life.”

Last year, Cassidy graduated from Jesuit High School and now, he has plans to use the skills he learned from the robotics team both in his college life and when teaching future generations how to fend off killer robots.