An all-girls robotics group with deep roots in southwestern Ontario is now ranked the number one rookie robotics team in the world.
Madison Vickery, a 16-year-old from Chatham, is a member of the Windsor-based Amazon Warriors, which competed at the world championship in Detroit this past weekend.
The Amazon Warriors is the first and only all-girls First (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) robotics rookie team with all female mentors in Ontario.
Amazon Warriors at Detroit competition. (Photo courtesy of Madison Vickery).
Vickery says the team placed 14th in their division at the competition and is now ranked the number one rookie team in the world. The team had a record of seven wins at the event.
"I'm very proud of the team and myself and everyone who helped us out," she says. "I think we can all say that we surpassed the goal that we were trying to achieve."
Vickery says when the team first formed, the girls jokingly would say "we're going to worlds," but that's not something that usually happens for a rookie team.
"To be able to actually go to worlds and accomplish that goal that we knew deep down we could do really shows that if you believe enough in yourself, you can accomplish anything," she says.
Vickery says after celebrating their wins, the team got to meet Premier Kathleen Wynne.
"We also met the governor general. Both her and Kathleen Wynne asked to meet us directly because of what a big accomplishment it felt to have an all-girls team be in such a high place," she says.
Vickery says the leaders told her to "keep doing what you're doing and you can make a big impact."
She says the team has a few ideas in mind for the future.
"We hope to maybe have some male mentors begin to help us, because we want to show that the collaboration between males and females is what can really help everyone to succeed," says Vickery.
According to Vickery, the Amazon Warriors will be attending the Southwest International off-season event at the end of the summer.
