S.P.A.M. (Speed, Power, and Maneuverability) is a team of highly motivated and incredibly enthusiastic high school students mentored by STEM and non-STEM professionals. We pride ourselves in creating high quality robots to compete in robotics competitions organized by FIRST^®, an organization founded by esteemed inventor Dean Kamen and distinguished MIT professor emeritus Woodie Flowers, to inspire students to get involved in STEM careers. Our robots are built in six weeks and perform in mostly sports-inspired challenges. We are presented with a set of rules and guidelines from which we build the robot from the ground up. We use specialized sub-teams to design, fabricate, assemble, program and test a fully-functioning robot.

More than robots

Within the confines of the 6-week build season, S.P.A.M. teaches more than just “how to build a robot.” We learn to manage our time and resources while being exposed to skills and experiences necessary to pursue jobs in the STEM fields. We build leadership skills while working with professional mentors to develop our robot each year and to solve problems in its production as they arise. We are able to sustain our program through the generous donations and sponsorships of local and national businesses, organizations and individuals.  

S.P.A.M. gives back by practicing “gracious professionalism”, a concept developed by Dr. Flowers, where we empower all students on the team to assist other teams in any way necessary so all participants are able to compete with their robots. We are also actively involved with students in our community spreading the message of the importance of STEM education. We host FLL (FIRST LEGO League) tournaments for elementary and middle school students–the largest in the state. And we use our expertise to teach younger students about robotics and STEM subjects in our annual VEX Robotics Summer Camps and FLL Summer Camps. S.P.A.M. has been instrumental in placing FIRST teams in every school in the Martin County School District.