Summary of Awards By Singapore SMART Team FVC 46
2006 FIRST VEX Champions (The Championship)
2006 FIRST VEX Think Award (DE Regional)
2006 FIRST VEX Finalist (DE Regional)
2005 FIRST VEX Challenge Award (The Championship)

2006 (Summer)
We are pleased to announce that Dr. K.T. Pang, director of the Singapore Science Center, has invited the Wissahickon HS / North Montco TCC Robotics Team (Team 341) to hold a robot demonstration and sharing session at the Singapore Science Center on August 18th.

The team will speak to an international audience of students, teachers, community members, government officials, and business leaders about the FIRST Robotics Program , as well as the growing relationship between Team 341 and the schools of Singapore. While in Singapore, the students on the team will also attend classes, visit homes and sample life in Singapore.

This exchange is an extension of our teams ongoing mission to develop international, technical partnerships which benefit students worldwide. Our exchange team will include 7 students, 1 college mentor, 1 high school principal and 3 coaches from both Wissahickon High School and the North Montco Technical Career Center. The team will also ship their 2006 competition robot, "Miss Daisy" for technical sharing and demonstrations.

The team is very excited about this opportunity to speak at this prestigious national museum, exchange ideas with our partner teams, and inspire students around the world.

You will be able to follow our trip to Singapore as it happens at the following link
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48187
We will post a daily log on this page.

The Story of our Partnership in Singapore:

2004
As part of our ongoing effort to bring the FIRST Robotics experience to students around the world, Team 341 has developed a strong partnership with several schools in Singapore. In 2004 Wissahickon HS established regular correspondence with the Millennia Institute, Temasek Secondary, and the C.H.I.J. Secondary school. Our goal was to inspire these schools to join the FIRST Robotics Competition as well as develop a cultural and technical exchange program with our high school.

2005
Just as we were establishing our partnership, FIRST began piloting a more accessible, lower cost version of the FIRST experience. This pilot, called the FIRST Vex Competition, was a breakthrough moment in our growing relationship. This pilot allowed the Singapore schools to be introduced to FIRST using smaller, more manageable robots.

In early 2005 Wissahickon and the three schools from Singapore won grants which allowed us to establish three VEX Robotics Pilot Teams. We assembled one team at Wissahickon HS and two teams in Singapore. Our goal was to build three robots in a little more than a month and then compete together in Atlanta, Georgia at the 2005 FIRST Robotics Championship.

We felt that a critical step in developing this partnership would be to send a Wissahickon HS student to Singapore to help support the effort. Our search did not last long as team member Cheryl Neilson stepped right up to volunteer. Cheryl's hard work in Singapore truly made a tremendous difference for these new teams. She extended her friendship, answered technical questions, and encouraged them to travel to America for the Championship event. American and Singaporean newspapers as well as Scholastic Magazine followed Cheryl’s journey which further inspired children in both countries.

Both Singapore teams eventually went on to win the 2005 FIRST VEX Challenge Award, the highest honor that the FIRST VEX Competition had to offer. We were thrilled be a part of their early success at the 2005 Championship. Our common struggle and success has cemented our friendship and our partnership continues to grow.

2006 (January)
In January of 2006 twenty-five students and five instructors representing three Singapore schools visited with the students of Wissahickon HS and the North Montco Technical Career Center. They came to participate in a cultural exchange and compete in a FIRST VEX Regional Competition. During their visit, students attended classes, visited with families and experienced American life. Visiting instructors observed lessons and exchanged teaching methods.

The students also spent time together in the machine shop as Team 341 built its 2006 FRC Machine. Then finally we competed together at the local FIRST VEX Regional. Both FVC 45 (Wissahickon/North Montco) and FVC 46 Singapore SMART placed well and eventually faced each other in the semi-finals. Our Singapore partners had an amazing day winning the FVC Think Award and placed as the competition Finalist. We cheered on our international partners and the kids from both teams celebrated together on the bus ride home. A few days and several celebrations later we sadly parted company, but we knew this was not goodbye. We would see each other again in Atlanta for the 2006 FIRST Championship.

2006 (April)
Once again our Singaporean partners arrived in Atlanta for the FIRST Robotics Championship. We greeted each other upon arrival and then got right down to the business of competing. Team 341 prepared for FRC and FVC 46 struggled through their first day. After a little bit of programming help and some minor changes Singapore SMART made an amazing comeback on the second day. Eventually they went on to win the 2006 FIRST VEX Championship. We celebrated that evening by taking our friends to their first American baseball game.

On Saturday the entire FVC 46 team came to the Georgia Dome to cheer on Team 341 as “Miss Daisy” placed 4th in the Galileo Division and took the Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship Award. Later that evening we celebrated at the FIRST Wrap Celebration and made plans for our team to visit Singapore in August.