(March 3, 2009) -- Time was the enemy for the robotics team, as the designers and the mechanical team scrambled to complete the robot in time to compete at the March 15 Los Angeles Regional competition with 50 other teams in the L.A. Sports Arena.

Team captain senior Antonella Wilby says this year has been smoother than last year. "We were in better shape this year, we had more parts ready to assemble before our February 17 ship date," she said. Wilby said that this year the team has worked many hours to finish the robot. "We actually finished the robot by midnight which gave us the rest of the night to practice," Wilby said.

The team itself is made of 17 members who dedicated more than 100 hours from Jan. 3 to Feb. 17 to build the robot. This season, time was an issue for students as they balanced schoolwork with assembling the robot. "It was hard to get all the homework done during those late night and weekend meetings but I handled my things," junior Arjun Anadan said.

Team members say they are confident this year. "I can’t wait to actually see our robot compete. I know we will win if everything works as it’s supposed to," said junior Biju Babu.

This robotics season has been a success even with the limited amount of funding. However, the extra effort to get grants from many different organizations by the advisor Roger Widholm, parent of Laura Widholm. This helped to pay the $6,000 entrance fee as well as other costs and made up for the club’s poor funding.

The For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Program brings out a new game for the robots every year. This year’s game is about scoring baskets and driving the robot in low friction surface. Although the stage is set for a difficult competition, Clark is ready with their robot "String Theory."