Passing of Matthew (Rev) St. Laurent
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Matthew St. Laurent on March 2. He was a member of Texas Torque for four years until he graduated last spring. He was a freshman at the Colorado School of Mines. He is one of a handful of students who made a tremendous impact on Texas Torque. As a junior, he trained a large group of team members to use SolidWorks to design our robots. For his Eagle Scout project, he organized the building of the workbenches we use in our robotics lab. As a senior, he was a fantastic Build Lead and helped us build an extremely competitive robot. He will be deeply missed by his friends and family here at Texas Torque. Rev’s memorial service shall be held at Lord Of Life Lutheran Church this Thursday at 11 am. The viewing will begin at 10 am. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that LEGO kits be brought in to be donated in his LEGOcy. They can either be brought to the memorial service or dropped off at the Robotics Lab at College Park High School to a Texas Torque member between the hours of 9-3 until Thursday.
Please keep Rev’s family in your thoughts as they work through this extremely difficult time.
If you are ever struggling, please talk about it with a trusted family member or friend. Please seek assistance. Don’t suffer silently.
If you are contemplating suicide, call the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text The Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
If you have any questions about Rev’s funeral, email us at [email protected]
Lord of Life Lutheran Church
Address: 3801 S Panther Creek Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77381
Rev’s LEGOcy Drive
Address for drop off: 3701 College Park Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77384
Big Win at Dripping Springs Competition!
Week 1 District Dripping Springs Competition was a huge success! Texas Torque competed alongside 32 other teams at the event and ended up in Rank 2 with a record of 16-2-0. During Alliance selections, they had the privilege of being first pick for the #1 ranked team, 3847 Spectrum. It was then decided to invite 3240 Team Orion to join the alliance, who graciously accepted the offer. After intense rounds in quarter and semi-finals, Texas Torque, Spectrum, and Team Orion faced 624 CRyptonite, 4610 BearTecs, and 6155 ElektraBots in Finals, and ended up coming out on top. After winning the competition, Texas Torque was honored with winning the District Chairman’s award for their remarkable work in Outreach. This award tied them with team 2468 as the #1 ranked team in Texas. Next stop: Fort Worth!
Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible!
See Texas Torque’s Chairman’s video here:
See Texas Torque’s Dripping Springs recap video here:
FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff 2020: INFINITE RECHARGE
On Saturday, January 4, Texas Torque hosted one of the kickoff events of the Houston area for the new 2020 season. Teams viewed a live kickoff show, where they were introduced to the new game manual and field set-up. They also received a speech from the new FIRST president, Lawrence Cohen.
The following video released by FIRST explains this year’s challenge:
Following the kickoff, members of Texas Torque reviewed the new game manual. Current students, mentors, and alumni all worked together as a team to create a vast array of innovative ideas and strategies for this year’s FRC game—Infinite Recharge.
We look forward to the new season, and wish all teams the best of luck!
Bedding Sets Donated to Angel Reach!
On November 14, members from the Texas Torque team delivered over twenty bedding sets to Angel Reach, a non-profit organization that helps young adults transition out of the foster care system. These bedding sets were generously donated from FRC teams attending the 2019 Remix on October 26th, 2019.
Thank you to all contributors for supporting this great cause!
The Remix 2019- Holy Cow(bells)!
Last Saturday, 32 teams from Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Mexico met at The Woodlands College Park High School to compete in the sixth annual Robot Remix.
The Remix raised approximately $1500 for the Montgomery County Women’s’ Shelter and collected over fifty small LEGO sets for a local children’s hospital. More than twenty bedding sets were collected for Angel Reach, a program that supports youth who have aged out of the foster care system.
This year’s competition was one of the fiercest ever! Torque finished qualification matches sixth, allied with team 5892 Energy HEROs and team 624 CRyptonite, but was eliminated after some tough defense played by team 118 Robonauts.
Congratulations to the winning alliance—team 118 Robonauts, 5261 Cyber Shock, and alliance captain 2468 Team Appreciate! The Robonauts, although routinely superb, was unable to play offense for the majority of the event due to technical issues. Instead, they became one of the most terrifying—and loudest—defense bots ever. While 5261 had a rough start, they rounded out the alliance and contributed to one of the most formidable offensive alliances at the Remix with Team 2468’a speed and precise maneuvering.
We would also like to give a big thank you to the volunteers that helped ensure the event ran smoothly. Special thanks go to our sponsors, Russo’s NY Pizzeria, and team 4610 BearTecs, 624 CRyptonite, 5417 Eagle Robotics, and 5414 Pearadox for running workshops.
Thank you to the teams and audience members that attended the Remix. We hope to see all of you next year!
Get Ready for The Remix 2019!
Texas Torque also uses the Remix as an opportunity to give back to the community through LEGO kit and bedding drives. The LEGOs are donated to local children’s hospitals, while the bedding is given to Angel Reach, an initiative to help young homeless adults. All profits from the Remix are also donated to the Montgomery County Women’s Shelter.
The competition will be held at the Texas Torque World Headquarters (location of the Lone Star North 2018 Regional) on October 26th.
If you would like to volunteer, please visit this link.
Please contact [email protected] or our lead mentor, Scott Rippetoe, at [email protected] for more information.
For more information or to register your team, visit this link.