Horseheads, N.Y., November 24--State Senator Tom O’Mara (R,C-Big Flats), Assemblyman Phil Palmesano (R,C-Corning), and Assemblyman Chris Friend (R-C, Big Flats) recently honored the Southern Tier robotics team, GorillaBots Team 5485, for the team’s success at the NY Excelsior (NY EX) FIRST Tech Challenge Regional Championship and the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship earlier this year.

GorillaBots Team 5485 is one of three high school teams at Corning Robotics, sponsored by Corning, Inc. GorillaBots Robotics Team 5485 is a 14-member team with students from Corning-Painted Post, Elmira, and Horseheads high schools. The team has been widely recognized for its work with the Science & Discovery Center in Corning, volunteer efforts at area summer camps, mentoring local middle school robotics teams, and building and distributing science kits at various community events, devoting more than 800 hours of community service throughout regional communities.

Earlier this year, in March, GorillaBots Robotics Team 5485 captured First Place at the NY EX FIRST Tech Challenge Region Championship held at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica. The FIRST Tech Challenge is comprised of robotics teams from throughout New York State.

The team’s victory in March earned GorillaBots Team 5485 a spot at the Robotics FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston, Texas in April, where the team took First Place in the Ochoa Division and currently ranks 26th in the world out of 8,800 teams.

O’Mara, Palmesano. and Friend joined team members and their families, coaches, and mentors last Friday night [see the attached photo] at the team’s headquarters in Horseheads to present an official Legislative Resolution (J941/K423) they sponsored honoring the team’s success at the state, national, and international levels. The resolution was approved by the state Senate and Assembly in May.

In a joint statement, O’Mara, Palmesano, and Friend said, “GorillaBots Team 5485 brings together some of this region’s best and brightest students who are highly successful as a robotics team and do outstanding work mentoring younger students, volunteering in a variety of ways, and promoting STEM throughout area communities. It’s been a memorable year for GorillaBots RoboticsTeam 5485. The team has had amazing success throughout the past year. Their commitment, creativity, enthusiasm, expertise, and vision stood out this year in prestigious competitions against local, state, national, and international teams. We are very proud to recognize their achievements. These students, and their coaches and mentors, stand as a true testament to excellence. We’re also proud to recognize the incredible support the team receives from their families, area communities, and Corning Incorporated. We appreciate and welcome these opportunities to honor success throughout our schools. They represent inspiring stories, promising futures, and enormous pride for our entire region.”  

The O’Mara-Palmesano-Friend resolution recognizes GorillaBots Team 5485 coaches Lauren Chang, Michael Nishimoto, and Mark Joiner, and team members Jacob Chung, Lydia Chung, Andrew Clark, Kaeden Martinez, Aidan McGroarty, Niyati Sharma, Aditya Aiyar, Miroslav Goral, Sriram Aravelli, Frank Chen, Mark Mendez, Jennifer Yu, Matthew Han, and Caylee Hinman.

The resolution reads, in part, “Individual and team championships are vital in healthy competition among our students. This Legislative Body commends rare achievements and pays special recognition to those who pursue such excellence and become examples for the youth of this great Empire State.”