KAPA‘A — Two Kaua‘i students took home the most selective individual awards at the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Championships, an international youth robotics event last month, marking the first time that a student from Kaua‘i has won or been named a finalist.
Joveline Alice F. Alvarez, a 17-year-old junior at Waimea High School, and Martian Binonwangan Jr., a 16-year-old junior at Kapa‘a High School, were both selected for prestigious Dean’s List Awards at the 2023 FIRST Championships, which ran from April 19-22 in Houston.
Out of the thousands of high school sophomores and juniors that participated in FIRST qualifying robotics team events, a total of 20 students were chosen for the award.
According to the FIRST website, the award was introduced in 2010 “in an effort to recognize the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding secondary school students.” The site also states the award is for 10th or 11th graders, who are “examples of great leaders” and “have achieved personal technical expertise and accomplishment.”
Alvarez and Binonwangan were both nominated by Cynthia Hannah-White, the lead mentor of the FIRST robotics team Kaua‘i Bots and president of the Kaua‘i Robotics Alliance, a nonprofit that supports STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education through all robotics-related activities on the island.
Hannah-White explained her decision to nominate them for the award in an interview at the Kapa‘a Middle School STEM and Family Night on Wednesday.
“They have both contributed amazingly to our team,” she said. “They’re always willing to learn. They’re leaders of our team. They bring our team together and help all the kids on the team succeed.”
Hannah-White noted that Alvarez and Binonwangan became involved with the robotics program while in middle school, and have put in a “tremendous amount” of effort in growing the robotics community around the island.
“I thought they should have a chance at it,” she said.
Following the nomination, Alvarez and Binonwangan became two of several hundred finalists selected for the Dean’s List Award, after they were interviewed by a panel of judges at state and regional competitions. Binonwangan was selected as a finalist during the First Tech Challenge Hawai‘i State Championship in January, and Alvarez was later selected during the Hawai‘i Regional’s First Robotics Competition in March.
In another interview at Kapa‘a Middle School STEM and Family Night, Alvarez and Binonwangan noted how excited they were to be selected as finalists.
“We traveled to Houston as Dean’s List finalists, and we had a lunch and it was just surreal,” said Alvarez. “It was so amazing because we didn’t expect us from this little island on Kaua‘i to make it like worldwide, so it was really cool.”
“All the other finalists (from Hawai‘i) have either been from O‘ahu or Maui,” said Binonwangan. “And the fact that we’re the first two finalists from Kaua‘i ever, and then won the award at the event at the championship in Houston, is absolutely amazing.”
Both Alvarez and Binonwangan described being on the robotics team as a great learning experience, and encouraged other youths on the island to get involved.
Binonwangan said he leads three other FIRST robotics teams, helped to start the Boys and Girls Clubs robotics program on Kaua‘i, and is even working to establish a robotics program in a village in the Philippines.
He said he plans on continuing his passion for robotics and STEM education in college.
“I want to be either an electrical or software engineer,” said Binonwangan. “Robotics provides me with that base to build both on top of those skills before I go on to college. And on top of that, it gives me a lot of opportunities to meet other people around the world and figure out what they’re doing and just talk to a lot of colleges too as well.”
Alvarez, who is one of the only girls on the mechanical team in the robotics program, wants more girls to get involved in the program.
“I just hope to see more females, especially in robotics,” she said. “Traveling to competitions, learning hands-on experiences, being able to communicate with teens from like Japan, or Taiwan, and all of these really cool countries … It’s such a great experience.”
Alvarez said she runs a robotics camp through the community science center as part of an internship project, and she’s looking forward to being the team captain and president of the Waimea Robotics Club.
“If everything works out, I hope to pursue a career in aerospace engineering. And I think that everything that I have done and experienced through FIRST Robotics has definitely helped me and inspired me towards that goal,” she said.
w Info: info@kauairoboticsalliance.org
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Emma Grunwald, reporter, can be reached 808-652-0638 or egrunwald@thegardenisland.com.
Whoot-Whoot! Congratulations to you both! What an honor to have you both represent Kauai and “put us on the map” for robotics. Keep up the good work and definitely recruit more girls!