Sunday Morning Spotlight: Fire Wires robotics team

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - A local robotics team sat down with Alex Almanza on 16 News Now Sunday Morning to talk about their program and recent victory at the Indiana Statehouse.

The Fire Wires robotics team is mostly comprised of high school teens across Michiana interested in robotics. Skills range from designing, building, and programming robots. Unlike any K-12 schools in the area, the Fire Wires aren’t associated with a particular school.

“At the beginning of the season, we actually had some issues where we had to move locations which set us back about a week. So before, we were working out of Elkhart and now we’re actually working out of Career Academy in South Bend,” said student member Nate Baker.

This group of engineers are also celebrating a victory on a state-wide level. The Fire Wires are responsible for helping get House Bill 1382 passed into law last week. The law will provide funding to STEAM programs across the state. Some members of the team even spoke on the senate floor and to the education committee.

“Since we’re not part of a high school, we have to earn all of the money for our robot ourselves, so we’re always looking for sponsors or fundraising events,” said team member Lucy Noie.

Funds will be available to eligible school-based robotics teams starting in June. However, the Fire Wires won’t be eligible to receive it because they aren’t a school-based team.

Click here to find out more information on how you can get involved with the Fire Wires.

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