FRC stands for First Robotics Competition— an international high school robotics competition where students and mentors design and construct a robot to complete specific tasks, while also simultaneously collaborating with other teams. As of now, there are about 3,468 FRC teams in the world, located in every continent.
One of these teams, FRC 8567, or Team Ultraviolet, works from a garage in Wellesley, transforming the local STEM landscape.
Mostly high school students, each member plays a pivotal role in the operations of the team, whether through community outreach, the mechanical or electrical side, software development, or business management.
The number 8567, is associated with the team because it was the 8567th FRC team ever created. Founded in 2020, the team has continued to grow and expand its operations. Kal Draganov ’24, one of the technical co-captains of the team is proud of how far the team has come and believes its success can be sustained.
“Looking back on the trajectory of our team and how rapidly we’ve improved starting in 2020 when we founded the team, we’re still on that upwards trend, and I think the work we’ve done as a collective in the last few years is setting us up for success and achievement in the coming years,” said Draganov.
The team’s founding was rooted in a desire to enhance STEM opportunities within Wellesley Public Schools. Before FRC 8567, the only other robotic-related activity that Wellesley offered was BotBall, which had its own issues.
“It wasn’t as high level, especially compared to this [FRC], and BotBall wasn’t very inclusive or encouraging, especially to girls interested in STEM,” said Draganov. “So that’s one of the things we’ve tried to do, to create this new thing with a focus on diversity, making sure that everyone on the team feels included and a part of it, especially those who are from underserved populations.”
Diversity and inclusion have become key tenets of the team.
“We actively encourage anyone regardless of technical ability, what they’re interested in, regardless of their gender, sexuality, whatever. They can be a part of this group and we actively try to make everyone feel included and part of a community. I think we’ve been pretty successful at that, and of course, there’s room to improve and we have plans to do that,” says Draganov.
Stephanie Xia ’26, an administrative co-captain for the team, recognizes the importance of having an advanced STEM environment to learn and hone one’s interest.
“I would say the best part of being on the team is the opportunities it provides that are very difficult to find elsewhere at the high school level. There are very few other places where I would be able to do hands-on engineering, build a whole robot, and work with a community of like-minded STEM-lovers who are my age,” said Xia.
As the team continues to grow, the recipe for their fast success is no secret.
“I think a lot of it comes from getting more people,” said John Brosnahan ’25, mechanical lead.
Beyond competitions and internal growth, the team focuses on its outreach and STEM advocacy. Whether collaborating with other local FRC teams to build a float for the Wellesley Wonderful Weekend Parade, or running demos for Boy and Girl Scout troops, the team has made its presence known.
Additionally, the team is proactive in pushing for legislative action that broadens STEM access in Massachusetts. Earlier this season, members of the team visited the Massachusetts State House to talk to legislators about Bill H.577/S.360, which would have an impact on STEM opportunities within the state. They also brought their robot along, giving legislators the chance to drive it.
“We’re advocating for a bill which aims to provide funding for underserved communities and underserved areas of Massachusetts so they can start STEM and robotics teams of their own. Right now, we’re in the process of emailing legislators and asking them to support our bill,” said Neha Guruprasad ’25, one of the team’s community outreach leaders.
This vision for inclusivity and access to STEM education is displayed through the summer workshops the team organizes for rising 4-6th graders. The team recognizes the importance of fostering interest in STEM disciplines from a young age.
“We’re trying to ensure the stability of our team and make sure we can get more underrepresented communities into STEM earlier because we are in a technological revolution,” said Guruprasad. “Things are going to become more automated, so by having more opportunities in STEM, it’s going to be very important that kids gain experience in these types of things.”
The team operates with a student-run ethos. Although there are mentors around to help guide, teach, and create a good learning environment, the students are the ones who facilitate the progression of their tasks and projects. In turn, this makes every member of the team play a crucial role.
“They organize all these things by themselves. They get some help from the school, teachers, and parents, but a lot of things they have to do by themselves. Not only the building but even the finances,” said Qi Wu, one of the adult mentors for the team.
Before the season, the team hosted pre-season workshops to prepare for the upcoming build season and subsequent competition season. Brosnahan notes that these workshops were crucial to the team’s development.
“It was great to see after those workshops how interested new members in the team were and how willing they were to put in time and effort,” said Brosnahan. “They learned a lot in those first few months beforehand and now I come in here and I don’t tell them what to do, they just come in here and do it.”
For Jai Dhingra ’26, one of the software developers, the dedication and passion of his peers is what sets the team apart from other school clubs.
“Out of all the school clubs, this is the one where people tend to be the most involved, most active. You can just tell by talking to someone who’s worked on the robot for an extended period of time,” said Dhingra.
For Dhingra, the team is an alternative to the monotony of school, where memorization and studying seems to take precedence over the experience of learning.
“We’re working on something a lot more abstract and though there are so many facets to it, each of us has a small piece of knowledge about it,” said Dhingra. “That piece of knowledge grows depending on the person and ultimately it comes together to the point where we can have the robot where we are now.”
Chaerin Shin ’25, the programming lead, echoed this sentiment.
“The best part about being a part of a robotics team is because it enlarges your world-view. I think most students, especially ones living in a town like Wellesley that is, quite frankly, boring, and puts much focus on academics, think with a need-to-know mindset,” said Shin. “By that I mean that the most common question I hear asked to teachers is ‘will this be on the test?’. Robotics, or the FIRST robotics community in particular, changes that. It’s made up of thousands of people from widely varying backgrounds that share one common passion: robots.”
Although the team is very STEM oriented, there are many different ways to get involved. As aforementioned, many people on the team focus on the business side of the team, like writing grants and establishing relationships with local businesses. Those who focus on community outreach find ways to help others learn about the team’s efforts and organize team-run events.
“It’s not only STEM people. We have people from all different areas working together. Which is similar to how a company operates. It is a very good set-up for the future,” said Wu.
In terms of this season, the team’s continued improvement was evident. Although the team did not advance as far as hoped, there were many accomplishments to be proud of. It took the team only six weeks to build a functional robot, compared to eleven last year. Additionally, Shin advanced as a Dean’s List semi-finalist, an honor which recognizes a student’s exceptional dedication and contribution to the FIRST community.
“This season went pretty well. Although the team didn’t make it to District Championships, we consistently made it to playoffs. It was made clear to the team that we were improving and we’re all very excited for next year,” said Shin.
One of the more pertinent challenges facing the team is finding a permanent space for its workshop. As of now, the team is working out of a team member’s garage. However, since the team member is graduating this June, the team’s use of this space is only guaranteed until June 2025. Consequently, team leaders have been searching for spaces that fit their criteria.
“We’re really just trying to find a space anywhere that’s kind of local. Best case scenario we get a room somewhere in the high school that’s designated for our team,” said Guruprasad.
The team’s push for sustainability has allowed it to excel in the few years since its founding. This has attracted many sponsors whose investments and contributions have been paramount to the team’s exponential growth.
“Most of our very expensive machines, we’re not buying them outright. Some company or some individual donates it to them, either for free or at a very discounted price. The reason for that is, those people see what we’re doing here and they want to support that for the students, for the learning and the skills that are built,” said Draganov.
While the robot is the string that holds all these moving parts together, the team’s focus transcends the robot itself according to Freddie Hatch ’25, another software developer. The real draw isn’t just the building of the robot, but rather, tackling the setbacks that come with it.
“In my opinion, the robot is not all that important. I would say it’s trying to figure out how to solve all these problems that actually apply to something and learning from that is really why people are on the team,” said Hatch.