Oakland Tech Students' Program a Winnner at Pioneers in Engineering Competition

By Brendan Doherty

High schoolers from Oakland Tech brought home the top prize at the Pioneers in Engineering (PiE) competition.

The robot, “BRIX JR,” built by the students with the help of volunteer advisers and their alliance team from Nea Community Learning Center in Alameda, went undefeated in a series of skill-based challenges designed by the College of Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. The competition was held April 27 and 28 at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

The crew placed in the top category, beating over 20 other high schools. They defeated the team from Encinal High School and their alliance team from Ralph Bunche in the final round of a double elimination completion.

The seven week PiE program takes teams from bare parts to finished project and head-to-head competition. Each team is grouped with two or three college mentors.