• Academies of Loudoun RoboLoCo Member Receives Women in STEM Scholarship

    Leesburg, VA, February 14, 2023 – Olivia Sun, a member of the Academies of Loudoun (ACL) FIRST® Robotics Competition Team (RoboLoCo), has been selected as a recipient of the 2023 Women in Stem Scholarship sponsored by Dominion Energy, who partnered with FIRST® Chesapeake to provide this opportunity for FIRST® members.

    Olivia has been a part of FIRST for eight years and ACL RoboLoCo for four years, with this season being her senior year. Olivia received $2,000 in scholarship money from Dominion Energy and FIRST® Chesapeake on February 14, 2023. When asked about receiving the scholarship, Olivia said, “I am really grateful to get the scholarship and represent the Academies of Loudoun RoboLoCo and in this experience. The scholarship ceremony was a great opportunity to meet the other recipients and make new connections!"

    Olivia is the team lead of the ACL RoboLoCo Creative subteam, collaborating with both the non-technical and technical subteams, not to mention other FIRST® teams, to create the distinct identity of ACL RoboLoCo. Olivia created the mascot, Gerald the Safety Lemon, in her first year of high school. She is an essential part of the team and has contributed to many vital aspects of ACL RoboLoco throughout the years. The Academies of Loudoun is happy to announce her success and wish Olivia the best for the future.

    The Academies of Loudoun “RoboLoCo” team (team 5338) is a FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC) team competing in the Chesapeake District. ACL RoboLoCo is one of several thousand FRC teams across the globe. FRC is the highest level of FIRST® competitions, above FLL (4th - 8th grade) and FTC (7th - 12th grade). FIRST®, a nonprofit organization, releases a new game every year, and teams have nine weeks to build a robot to compete with, fitting with the organization’s mission to inspire young people to be leaders in the fields of Science and Technology, by engaging them in exciting student-based programs that involve problem solving, creativity, and analytical reasoning. For more information about FIRST® and FRC, refer to https://www.firstinspires.org/.