The Team RobotiX Story by Matt Hyatt

The Pittsburgh area is one of fastest growing regions for new technologies, second only to Silicon Valley. Every day, new innovations are introduced with the hopes of making the world a better place. Growing up in the area, I was interested in the the field of robotics. I learned how to build and program from Lego, VEX, and Hummingbird kits, and I participated on FIRST and VEX robotics competition teams.

Since I enjoyed these activities, I thought other students might, too; however, I was disappointed to find out that many students in the Pittsburgh area did not have access to these opportunities. Part of this problem was a lack of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) experiences in their schools and community programs. This was shocking, as these were the fields that were making Pittsburgh flourish. Therefore, I started my own community outreach program which eventually grew into the nonprofit, Team RobotiX, a 501 (c)(3) organization.

I started the “Kids Teaching Kids” program for robotics education and launched a successful STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts,  and mathematics) organization as a middle school student. Now, as a student at Carnegie Mellon University studying mechanical engineering and robotics, I’ve expanded my community outreach efforts.

As documented through a support letter from the Director of STEM Education at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA… “Team RobotiX interacts with 6,000 students and 150 teachers each year!”

Initially, Team RobotiX received start-up support from STEAM professionals in the community, especially Tim Friez, COO at Robomatter and co-developer of RobotC software. I met Tim when I started a FIRST competition team in 6th grade. He served as a mentor during my younger years; and, when I turned 16, he hired me to work at Robomatter as a summer intern.

Team RobotiX became a  Capstone Project in 2015 at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business (through Dave Mawhinney's class) to develop the organization's business, strategic, and marketing plans.  For 2017, 2018, and 2019, Team RobotiX continued as a project at CMU’s Heinz College for Brett Crawford’s graduate marketing class. Graduate CMU students created flyers and pptx presentations to encourage K-12 students from underrepresented and underserved populations to learn CAD, building, and programming skills.This information was then shared at outreach events to promote our summer workshops.                                                

Team RobotiX hopes that you'll support our efforts as we continue to expand our outreach into local communities.   

FIRST World Robotics Championship

Dean’s List Award Ceremony (Matt Hyatt and Dean Kamen, Founder of FIRST Robotics)