The beginning of the official FIRST season has commenced! We are so excited to participate in FIRST: CANOPY, focusing on biodiversity and nature-inspired innovation. Read more to see how our FLL and FTC teams are doing so far. While FRC has not officially started, students are working hard in our mock season, hosted by Team 449, called HARVEST HAVOC. Check in on our next blog post to see more information!

FLL Kickoff

Girls of Steel had our first FLL meeting on the 5th of September! Students began work on the bases of their competition bots and learned some basics of Python coding. Students also engaged in Core Values activities and Lego free build time that demonstrated their creativity and teamwork skills. Dr. Kevin Kohl, Associate Professor at Pitt’s Department of Biological Sciences gave a presentation on the importance of biodiversity in ecosystems and worked with students in an activity about morphotypes and variants. We’re so excited to kick off the new season BIOGLOW with our 2026 teams!

FTC Kickoff

Girls of Steel had a thrilling time at the FTC Kickoff on Saturday, September 12th! The kickoff included over 7 other teams, all of whom gathered in CMU’s Gates Hillman Center. This year’s game is called BIOBUZZ: integrating nature-inspired problem solving with robotics. Students started breaking down the game elements, such as wiffle ball-shaped pollen and nectar scoring, discussed strategies to optimize points accumulated, and tested mechanisms on the game field. Everyone had a fun time learning about our community and competition. We are looking forward to this one!

Discovery Day

On Wednesday, September 16th, Girls of Steel went to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to attend Pittsburgh’s annual Robotics & AI Discovery Day! Students talked to over a hundred attendees that visited our booth and got to visit and experience other booths that included manufacturing companies, research projects, and other tech-related events. FTC team #9820, Girls of Steel Hypatia, won an award for the “Most Dangerous Robot” after participating in an FTC scrimmage at the event. Both our FRC and FTC robots also participated in a robot parade around the Convention Center with some other FIRST teams that showed off their robots’ capabilities!

Spaceburgh

On September 26th, Girls of Steel hosted a booth in Spaceburgh, located in Market Square in Downtown, Pittsburgh! Students particularly enjoyed talking and engaging with the other groups advertising various programs, mentioning their interest in learning about different projects. Displaying different aspects of Girls of Steel, students were also taught about elements of the FTC program and how components are designed with their engineering notebooks. Reaching about 110 people, they made customized buttons with the attendees.