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Piedmont Makers
Facilities

Two spaces where kids build, drive, and break things.

The 10th Street practice field is the home base for FRC Team 8033 and a working lab for FTC teams. The Mary G. Ross Engineering Lab at Piedmont High School is the community engineering classroom, where robotics open houses, after-school programs, and Build Like a Girl sessions happen.

Overhead view of the 10th Street practice field — a regulation-size FRC competition area with hundreds of yellow game pieces scattered across the floor, robots on the field, and the team and spectators around the edges.

The 10th Street practice field during an FRC build-season session

10th Street

The only community-accessible full-size FRC field in the Bay Area.

Built and operated by Highlander Robotics 8033

A regulation-size FIRST Robotics Competition field inside a warehouse-style space in Oakland. This space is primarily managed by Team 8033 and shared by youth robotics teams across the region.

In 2025, Team 8033 piloted the concept at The Loom, a temporary 10,000 sq ft facility nearby, to prove that a community-accessible full-size FRC field would actually get used. It did! Teams that used to drive to East Palo Alto for full-field practice could now practice close to home, and 19 guest teams logged 200+ practice hours during the season.

As fiscal sponsor, Piedmont Makers signed a multi-year lease on the space to maintain the much-needed shared regional infrastructure. Highlander Robotics students and mentors continue to operate the facility.

Build benches, tooling, a regulation field, and enough open floor for robots to drive around. Active members and visitors check in on arrival, and all visitors sign a one-time waiver before entering the build floor.

Use
Youth robotics practice + build
Address
3100 East 10th Street
Oakland, CA
Hours
During practice & build season
Check-in form → Sign the waiver →

$245K

raised by 8033 for the build-out

900+

volunteer hours by 8033 students and families

19

guest teams hosted by 8033

200+

guest practice hours during the season

Sponsors of 8033's 10th Street campaign

  • PG&E Corporation Foundation Grant
  • KLA Foundation Grant
  • Autodesk CNC Router · in-kind
Engineering Lab

Where high schoolers build robots.

The Mary G. Ross Engineering Lab

The community engineering classroom at Piedmont High School. Home base for FTC robotics teams, after-school engineering programs, and the annual K–8 robotics open houses where prospective families see what robotics looks like up close.

The space is named for Mary G. Ross, the first known Native American female engineer and a pioneer at Lockheed's Skunk Works. Three of the lab's rooms honor pioneering women in STEAM, with stipple portraits dedicated at the ribbon-cutting ceremony by members of Highlander Robotics 8033.

Address
800 Magnolia Ave
Piedmont, CA 94611
Dedicated
April 29, 2023
Hours
During programs & open houses
Interior of the Mary G. Ross Engineering Lab at Piedmont High School — high schoolers in purple shirts working at tall plywood benches around an FRC robot frame, with team banners, the Team Social board, and FRC parts visible in the background.

Inside the Mary G. Ross Engineering Lab — FRC team members at the build benches

The lab's spaces are named for three pioneering women in STEAM.

  • Stipple portrait of Annie Jump Cannon

    Annie Jump Cannon

    Engineering Patio

    Astronomer who developed the modern stellar classification system while cataloguing over 350,000 stars.

    1863–1941

  • Stipple portrait of Raye Montague

    Raye Montague

    Computer Lab · ST-127

    Naval engineer, computer programmer, and the first computer-aided ship designer.

    1935–2018

  • Stipple portrait of Mary G. Ross

    Mary G. Ross

    Engineering Lab · ST-128

    Aerospace engineer whose Skunk Works efforts shaped the U.S. space program.

    1908–2008

Donors

The Engineering Lab exists because of these families, companies, and foundations. Listed in the order they appear on the donor wall inside the lab itself.

Major donors

  • Anonymous Donor
  • The Potter-Lambert Family
  • The Aldridge Family
  • The Chakravartula Holt Family
  • The Chan Family
  • The Chu Family
  • Melissa, Kevin, Elle, and Mara Clark
  • The Cooper Family
See all 52+ donors →
  • The Gourjian Sarafian Family
  • The Hupp Family
  • The Kemp Khouri Family
  • The Leong Balasingham Family
  • The Ragones Family
  • The Saperstein Family
  • The Schleuning Family
  • The Seiden Family
  • The Shields Family
  • The Skidmore Sanford Family
  • The von Metzsch Family
  • The Wallway Family
  • The Welch Family
  • The Wiesbrock Family
  • Julia Zhen
  • The Zietlow Family
  • Piedmont Makers
  • Hypercube Robotics FTC 14341
  • Google
  • Salesforce Foundation
  • The Walt Disney Company

Donors

  • Ken Khouri
  • Varian
  • Mike Cvet
  • The Behrens Ware Family
  • Tom Joseph
  • Natalia Duxbury
  • The Lavin Family
  • The Grochowski Yan Family
  • Olja Dimitrijevic
  • The Wolff Family
  • The Smith Barber Family
  • The Brahma Family
  • The Heafey Family
  • The Dickinson Family
  • Andrew Schultz
  • The Lin Schuetz Family
  • The Hart Family
  • Geoffrey Castronovo
  • Laura Zuckerman
  • The Posamentier Family
  • The Paul Family
  • The Hill Family
  • The Sharafi Family
  • Mary Wells
  • The Walters Muthig Family
  • Margaret Bridges
  • The Riordan Family
  • Jon Schleuning
  • Jennifer Poole
  • Laura Murphy
  • Chris Kibarian
Visiting?

We love when parents drop in.

Both spaces are most active during practice and build season. To make sure someone's around when you visit, email ahead, or watch the events calendar for open-house and tournament dates.

hello@piedmontmakers.org →