The Armory in Washington Heights buzzes with energy. Wizard hats bobbing through the crowd, yellow foam balls arcing overhead, hoodies adorned with trading pins, and hundreds of teenagers darting between pit stations and competition queues. The NYC FIRST Robotics Gotham Regional feels like a playoff game crossed with a science fair. Every pair of hands is occupied: tightening screws, stripping wire, tweaking code, wheeling machines to the next match.
Since 2018, Two Sigma has been a proud sponsor of this event, and several of our people mentor one of the competing teams year-round. Spend five minutes on the floor and it’s easy to see why. It’s collaborative, technical, high-stakes, and a lot of fun!
Understanding how it all works
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 to make science and engineering as exciting and celebrated for young people as sports. Its flagship high school program works like this: each January, FIRST unveils a new game challenge, and thousands of teams worldwide get roughly six weeks to design, build, and program a competition-ready robot from scratch.
NYC FIRST, the regional affiliate, brings the program to students across all five boroughs, and even some international participants, connecting them with resources and community that extend far beyond any single season. Their regional events at The Armory, NYC and Gotham, are qualifying rounds on the road to the FIRST Championship, but they’re just as impressive on their own. Part tournament, part expo, part celebration of what young people can do with real problems and real tools.
Working with the Envirobots
One team on the floor, the Envirobots, comes from the High School for Environmental Studies, located in New York City. Students from the school work alongside their school teacher, coach, and our mentors to prepare for busy competition days. There’s a lot happening all at once at the event, and none of it happens overnight. These students pour hundreds of hours into the project, and it shows.
We’ve been very fortunate that we’ve had a very dedicated and motivated crew of students who have been participating in this, some of them since they were freshmen. Each year brings new experience, new growth, and new opportunity… We’re especially thankful to have Two Sigma as our primary sponsor for this year’s season. – Brian, Envirobots Coach & Teacher, High School for Environmental Studies
Watching the young crew in action calls to mind a Formula 1 pit stop, just a little more electrical tape and stickers and a little less aerodynamic modeling. Members pass tools in sequence, huddle over lines of code, and make last-second tweaks before their robot—named Toph—rolls up to the battle queue.
Navigating roles and responsibilities, carrying out negotiations, and a teamwork mentality is a key part of what our mentors focus on with the group throughout the year and on competition days. FIRST has baked collaboration into the competition format itself. Teams form alliances, scouting other robots’ strengths and pairing complementary capabilities to assemble a group of three with the best shot at winning.
Supporting the next generation of problem-solvers
At the Gotham Regional, some of the standout moments have nothing to do with match scores. Two teammates diagnose a wiring failure between rounds, then discover a wheel issue, working through each problem alongside their mentors with intense concentration as the clock counts down to the next match. A fifteen-year-old, with their coach’s encouragement, finds the confidence to suggest a new game plan. Building a competition-ready robot is a serious technical achievement at any age, but it’s these smaller moments that reveal the deeper lessons of the program.
The students leave with instincts they’ll carry into university labs, job interviews, and professional workplaces — how to stay focused when things break, how to communicate under pressure, and how to divide and conquer complex missions. They’re building the habits and fortitude of truly great problem-solvers.
It’s been fantastic to be a part of developing the next generation of engineers and leaders here in New York City and helping students grow into more confident and capable adults.” – William Clarke, Engineering Manager, Two Sigma
I’ve been on the team for three years now, and what I really like about Robotics is that it’s been the place that I’ve really found my people…I’ve found a lot of joy through this, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with everything that I’ve learned… I didn’t go into high school really knowing what I wanted to do, and I’m coming out of my 12th grade year really excited to go to college for mechanical and electrical engineering. – Eliza, Envirobots Team Member & Student, High School for Environmental Studies
We’re proud of this partnership and grateful to the Two Sigma colleagues who show up season after season, not just on competition day but through the long weeks of building and iterating that make incredible days like this possible.