A pair of Gilbert girls from the ASU Prep Poly SPARK Institute in Mesa, won the top award at this year’s CREATE Jr US Open World Championship, a robotics competition in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Eighth graders Alexis Ngo and Tara Yuenyongsgoo brought home both the Honor Award and places second in the skills competition.
Comprising the “maroon” team, they spent the past eight months designing, testing and competing together, but their latest robot, named “Johnny 20,” was built in just a week.
The duo has been attending weekly build sessions every Friday morning since August 2024 as part of the school’s Robotics Club, along with additional practice and build sessions every Thursday.
To win the championship, Ngo and Yuenyongsgool took Johnny 20 through a series of competitions in which contestants demonstrate their robots' capabilities.
Johnny 20 is able to pick up as many as three small, semi-flexible, inflated playground balls at a time. The robot’s intake roller is hinged and weighted to guide the balls into a conveyor system.
At the top of the conveyor, a flap helps to direct the ball down into the goal. Johnny 20 also features a sophisticated internal suspension system for easier movement and alignment.
“Ultimately, Johnny 20’s savvy moves earned the team the title of Skills Finalist, a second-place finish among 45 teams,” a spokesman said.
Led by ASU Prep robotics teacher and coach Matthew Chicci and assisted by STEM teacher Crystal Funkhouser, the girls won the top award for their field performance, technical knowledge, interviews and interaction with all teams, fans and tournament officials.
The Honor Award is heavily weighted toward technical innovation, fair play and collaboration.
“Alexis and Tara had to build an entirely new robot to compete in Iowa,” Chicci said. “It took them just over a week to build Johnny 20, and as the results show, they did a tremendous job.
“We’re incredibly proud of their hard work, and grateful for the support of the Southwest Advanced Prototyping (SWAP) Hub at ASU, which made it possible for them to attend this competition and earn such high honors.”
ASU Prep Poly opened in 2008 on the ASU Polytechnic college campus with a vision “to immerse students in STEM-centered learning starting in elementary grades.
In 2020, ASU Prep Polytechnic launched the SPARK Institute, a Next Education Workforce model for grades 7 and 8, in partnership with Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College.
Information: asuprep.asu.edu.
