History

Browse this section for a detailed look at our team's seasons: each robot we have created, each game in which we have participated, and each of our build and competition seasons. Also, take a look at some of our past website layouts.

2001 – Founding and Conception

Our team was founded in 2001 by a group of students who wanted to participate in a Battlebots-like competition. After doing some research, they found the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. With only 13 members, a faculty adviser, and a few mentors, they created the foundation for a lasting, spirited, vivacious team.

2002 - 2003 – New Resources

2002 saw the introduction of an official robotics class created by the Los Angeles Regional Occupation Program. Team members could get class credit for participating on our team, and consequently many new members joined. Also new in 2002 was access to the Glendale Community College machine shop, where team members could take classes and machine parts for the robots.

2004 - 2005 – New Mentors

In 2004, Mark began to mentor the team, and through him the team gained sponsorship from Hardcore Racing. This machining resource was a great boon to the team, and allowed us to manufacture more complicated parts using lasercutting technologies. In 2005, many JPL engineers came to mentor the team, generously offering many hours of their time and energy. Also in 2005 came the support of Tru-Cut Machine Shop, through the Widholms, which began to manufacture many parts for our robots.

2006 - 2007 – Growth

After the 2006 season, many of our JPL mentors left due to increasing schedule constraints from the 2009 Mars Rover launch. In 2007, many new parent mentors stepped up, and we had the continuing support of the GCC machine shop and Tru-Cut. In 2007, for the first time in our team's history, we won a regional and were invited to the international championships in Atlanta, Georgia!

2008 - 2009 – Transition

2009 was a definite transition for our team. With the loss of our long-time faculty adviser at the beginning of the year, we were unsure whether the team would survive another season. Thankfully, with tremendous support from parents, the team was able to restructure itself and create a new foundation for the team to thrive upon, hopefully for many years to come.

2010 - 2011 – Stability

Although the era in robotics had a rocky start, this period of time was an era of stability and prosperity. The students were able to win the Woodie Flowers award in 2010 and the Co-opertition award in 2011. Unfortunately, the team was sorry to see the leaving of their much loved mentor, Hannah Goldberg.

2012 - Present – Conquest

2012 was the beginning of a new era for Clark Magnet Robotics. With the acquisition of a new robotics lab, and a transition into a new mentor and an exciting new game, the season was stock full of changes, challenges, and excitement.