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Highlander Robotics Team 8033 Update — April 2026

April 21, 2026 · Piedmont Makers

Team 8033 attended the first-ever Nor Cal District Championship. They won the Impact Award at the San Francisco District tournament, narrowly missed Worlds, and shipped a long list of outreach wins.

Captain Cassie Colby on the big screen at the Nor Cal District Championship event, talking about Highlander Robotics' new 10th Street practice field
Captain Cassie Colby talks about our new 10th Street practice field on the big screen at the Nor Cal District Champs event.

Highlander Robotics Team 8033 attended the first ever Nor Cal District Championship (CANCMP) in San Francisco on April 9–12 along with 59 other teams from Northern California that qualified.

This year, FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) moved from the regional model to the district model in California. The team won Impact, the most prestigious judged award, at the San Francisco District tournament in March. In past years, this would have secured attendance at the Worlds Championship in Houston. However, it qualified them for CANCMP where only 2 of 11 Impact-award winning teams would advance to Worlds.

Highlander Robotics' 2026 robot, Wisp, mid-shot, ejecting a foam 'fuel' ball into a competition hub.
Our 2026 robot Wisp shooting "fuel" into the hub.

Their robot Wisp had strong performances throughout the season, particularly at the San Francisco tournament. The design, mechanical, and software sub teams showed dedication to iterating all season. At CANCMP, their most recent iteration did not coalesce as consistently as desired and they did not qualify for Worlds this year.

A run of outreach wins

The 8033 mentors are proud of the students’ work. Highlights include:

  • Their FIRST scouting app called Lovat has been used by over 800 teams worldwide, making it the most used in the world.
  • Partnership with Piedmont Makers to secure a long-term lease on the 10th Street full practice field and makerspace, used by 25 teams this season. They raised $245K from corporate and individual donors.
  • Student-developed technical training programs in software and mechanical design used by over 40 FRC teams.
  • Work making custom assistive devices and modifying toys with OUSD’s Special Education students through hosting workshops.
  • Supporting girls in engineering through student-designed badge workshops for girl scouts and presentations at STEAM events.
  • Community mentoring, volunteering at robotics tournaments, and engaging kids at Fourth of July, Harvest Festival, and Maker Faire.
Four Highlander Robotics team ambassadors smiling for the camera in matching uniforms at a competition.
Team ambassadors tell judges about our Outreach. L–R: Vice Captain Software Athena Li; Captain Cassie Colby; Ashley Sang; Zoe Snyder.

See you at the Maker Faire

We invite you to see what the team built in person — Wisp will be at the School Maker Faire on May 17, 2026, along with a representative slice of the year’s other engineering projects.

Three Highlander Robotics pit crew members working in close quarters between matches.
Pit crew has very tight turn-around times between matches. L–R: Pit Lead Nate Welch, Tristan Milsum, Sam Boyd.

The graduating class is heading to Rice, Georgia Tech, UC Berkeley, and Villanova. The next generation of Highlander Robotics is already in the room.