The Powell High School Robotics Team, 3188 Squiggle Splat Bang, started a non-profit called SSB Robotics. Their goal is to provide 3-D printers for robotics teams who need supplies.
Team 3188 achieved a high level of funding, enabling them to represent Wyoming at the World Championships against teams from around the globe.
The team began filling out applications for funding in December 2024 as a fiscal sponsor; they applied in June to become a non-profit organization in Wyoming.
“We sent out some more surveys to get some more metrics for funding, to see how much funding we would need and to apply to grants better,” senior Mason Coombs said. “70% of the teams without a 3-D printer marked themselves as “average” or “developing,” meaning that they often don’t qualify for their state competition. We want to bridge that gap and allow FTC teams to reach their maximum potential while gaining valuable engineering experience.”
The team appealed to the International Revenue Service, and with that, they got the correct status of being a non-profit. After this determination, they got a $2,000 grant from the Gene Hass Foundation.
“With a $2,000 grant from the Gene Haas Foundation, we launched our first round of 3D printer grants, supporting 16 FTC teams and over 200 students worldwide, including teams in Armenia,” Coombs said. “We now have more than 36 applications, demonstrating strong demand and global impact.”
Granting a 3-D printer will have a lasting impact not only for Wyoming teams but for teams across the world. It will help the youth foster engineering skills for generations to come. Since Powell teams have had a 3-D printer, computer-aided design skills have been constantly passed down, making students stronger in designing, no matter which skill set a participant has in STEM and robotics.
Team 3188 plans to continue building and growing its non-profit. This is the start of something great for Wyoming’s robotics community.
“Our first goal is to provide at least three Wyoming FTC teams with 3D printers,” Coombs said. “In addition, we aim to expand access to 3D printing for more than 100 students across the state. SSB Robotics will also provide mentorship in CAD to the grantees.”
SSB Robotics also plans to track teams that now have 3-D printers and note which teams are impacted now that they have the necessary supplies. They will also track a “CAD Adoption Rate,” where they will follow up with students monthly to assess their CAD skill development now that they have the necessary supplies.
“We will measure the impact on team performance using OPR (Offensive Power Rating),” Coombs said. “Which shows how many points a robotics team contributes in matches. We will compare each team’s OPR from the year before the year they were awarded a printer.”
Essentially, SSB Robotics is going to use this data from robotics participants so they can see the growth and change from different participants.
“Success means more Wyoming FTC teams gain access to essential tools that make them competitive, innovative, and sustainable,” Coombs said. “We measure this by the number of 3D printers granted, the number of students served, and measurable improvements in team performance.”
This is the heart of SSB Robotics, passing the torch of engineering from one team to another, and from generation to generation.
- If you would like to support SSB Robotics or learn more, check out their website at https://www.ssbrobotics.org/
- If you would like to see their work in action, check out this Facebook video of the Armenian team opening up their new 3-D printer at https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Z3nt9eQfE/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v
