Mars Robotics Association

Join us in celebrating our student Sophia who was chosen as a Penn FTC Leadership Award Finalist!

She is one of four students selected to represent Pennsylvania at the FIRST World Championship in Houston TX this week. ⚙️🎉

As the longest member of Mars Robotics, Sophia has worked on youth STEM projects on a local, state and national level. She is an enthusiastic leader and valuable contributor to her teams' success year after year. Congrats on this well deserved recognition! 👏

🏆🥇⚙️ Congratulations to Team 13474 MARS Curiosity? 🙌🤖💚
INNOVATE AWARD WINNER
2026 Penn FTC State Championship

Our students were recognized for their robot with a unique drive system using balls as wheels for enhanced mobility around the field. This was an original one of a kind design at States! Starting in the pre-season last summer, students began crafting this novel design which required a total programming redesign from prior years. They spent months developing and reiterating custom CAD designs for 3D printed and machined parts - all in our signature colors of course! Be sure to stop by our next outreach to see it up close and hear about the ideas that went into this awesome build.

Best of Luck to our FTC team 13474 MARS: Curiosity? and all of the teams competing at the Penn FTC State Championship this weekend!

Catch the livestream and match updates at
https://www.ftcpenn.org/ftc-events/2025-2026-season/pennsylvania-ftc-championship

🤩🎬🥇🪚 Mars Robotics x Knoch High School ⚙️🔩🔨🎥

Our students Hailey & Emma worked on building & programming a 15 foot rotating stage for their school musical - Hadestown: Teen Edition at Knoch HS. Hailey worked on parts & assembly of the motor systems. Emma programmed a user friendly show specific Graphical User Interface (GUI) to control the platform. She collaborated with directors to work out all the details for an amazing show this past weekend!

Congrats on a job well done & inspirational STEAM collaboration!

On February 7, 2026 our FLL Team;
"Mars Archaeology Really Cool Team Name!"
competed at the Northwest PA FLL Championship and brought home two major awards:

🏆 Robot Performance Award – 3rd Place
Awarded to teams with the highest scores in the robot game.

🥈 Champion’s Award – 2nd Place
Recognizing teams that excel across Core Values, Robot Performance, Robot Design, and the Innovation Project.

What an incredible achievement! 🚀👏

Big news! 🚀
We’re proud to be named a TRETRC Innovation Award Winner.
Special thanks to PTC and TRETRC for creating an amazing video highlighting our project and our team’s hard work.

Check it out!!

Final Innovation in Ed Award Video TRETC 2026: The Innovation in Education Award Education transforms lives through the power of collaboration. This award recognizes outstanding organizations ...

🚀 Calling all makers, mentors, and problem-solvers!
Local youth robotics competitions are around the corner, and we need dedicated volunteers to help staff local events!

🤖 No technical experience required—just your enthusiasm and a willingness to support amazing kids doing amazing things.

👉 Support the next generation of thinkers and builders in your community. Join the excitement as youth robotics grows in Western PA 🚀

✨️Just 1 day of your time = huge impact! Local FTC competitions are one Sat and/or Sun per month from Dec - Feb - join at one or more! 🏆

Submit your interest to find out more at [email protected]

Today is kickoff for FTC (First Tech Challenge)
GAME REVEAL is at noon, click the link to learn more !!
https://www.youtube.com/user/FIRSTTechChallenge

🌟 Coming up on Armstrong’s Butler Buzz! 🎙️✨

This episode shines a spotlight on incredible people and community opportunities. Meet our inspiring guests:

🎖️ Joshua Seybert – Butler VA Health Care System | Veteran Job Fair
🎃 Molly DiFiore – Evans City Events Committee | Evans City PumpkinFest
🔬 Colby Kohnen – Mars Robotics Association
🦉 Alexis Fitzgerald – Stormy Oaks Nature Conservancy & Wildbird Recovery | Fall Migration Festival

Catch their interviews on Armstrong’s Neighborhood Channel on YouTube, or visit:
📺 armstrongonewire.com/Television/LocalProgramming to view the full TV schedule.

✨ The FIRST LEGO League 2025 season is here — and it’s UNEARTHED™! Students in grades 4–8 will dive into archaeology, tech, and teamwork as they explore the past to shape the future. From building robots to solving real-world problems, this season is all about discovery. Let’s dig in!