[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 5, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             GIRLS OF STEEL

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL F. DOYLE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 5, 2022

  Mr. MICHAEL F. DOYLE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
commend the Girls of Steel robotics team for qualifying for the 
eleventh time to attend the FIRST World Championship competition by 
winning the Regional Engineering Inspiration award at the Greater 
Pittsburgh Regional, held at California University of Pennsylvania in 
California, Pennsylvania, between March 17th and 19th, 2022.
  I also want to commend the Girls of Steel for winning the Regional 
Chairman's Award at the Buckeye Regional held at Cleveland State 
University in Cleveland, Ohio, between March 24 and 26, 2022. The 
Regional Chairman's Award is the most prestigious award at FIRST. It 
honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate 
and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.
  The students are proud that their awards qualify them to attend the 
2022 FIRST World Championship in Houston, Texas. I think that the 
remarkable accomplishment of continuously making it to the Championship 
speaks volumes about the dedication these young women have in pursuing 
``STEM''--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math--careers, their 
ability to sustain their team, and the thousands of hours they have 
spent collectively doing outreach in the community. The Girls of Steel 
are often referred to as the hometown favorite robotics group and 
continue to be featured in videos, print media, and blog posts.
  FIRST, which stands for ``For Inspiration and Recognition of Science 
and Technology,'' is an organization dedicated to engaging our students 
in STEM fields. Hundreds of thousands of students gain practical, team-
based engineering experiences through FIRST every year.
  As a founder and co-chair of the Congressional Robotics Caucus, I 
believe competitions like these are incredible tools for helping our 
young people to explore potential careers in STEM. I've witnessed 
firsthand the incredible economic growth and development that these 
fields can bring to my home district, and I strongly believe that these 
fields are crucial to our nation's future prosperity. For encouraging 
young people in these pursuits, I want to commend organizations like 
FIRST for their important work. The FIRST Robotics Competition allows 
students to apply creativity and critical thinking in the demanding and 
competitive field of robotics, all while instilling a strong sense of 
pride in participants.
  Fifty-three young women from 8th through 12th grade associated with 
schools located in and around the Pittsburgh area represent this year's 
Girls of Steel program, and in recognition of their hard work, 
intelligence, and teamwork, I would like to mention each of these 
inspiring young people by name. They are Ciara Anderson, Ariella 
Avigad, Somdatta Basu, Justine Bennett, Aashi Bhatt, Megan Cassady, 
Elise Chu, Diya Cowlagi, Nina Cranor, Elizabeth Crookston, Maggie 
Davis, Maeve Dever, Mikaela Dassanaike-Perera, Natalie Ficca, Alexandra 
George, Susanna Getty, Anuva Ghosalkar, Teodora Gildengers, Grace 
Goslin, Samhita Gudapati, Katherine Hu, Rayna Huang, Amanda Hulver, Amy 
Jin, Janise Kim, Jessie Lee, Harshitha Lingam, Kameron Locy, Elizabeth 
Maier, Mia Maurizio, Lauren Michaels, Ava Miller, Sreyashi Mondal, Aria 
Narasimhan, Madeleine Ng, Swathi Padmanabhan, Dustana Roberts, Gray 
Scherer, Lucia Samaras, Mahika Shetty, Sophia Shetty, Rishika 
Somireddy, Aditi Srivastava, Tara Staresinic, Kelly Tai, Aditri Thakur, 
Justina Wang, Ashley Wei, Gloria Wen, Hannah Yang, Mary Zagrocki, Kexin 
Zhao, and Audrey Zheng.
  Additionally, I want to convey my sincere appreciation to the faculty 
and staff of Carnegie Mellon University's Field Robotics Center, who 
have mentored the Girls of Steel since 2010. Because of their efforts, 
more young women experience real-world technological challenges and 
learn from some of the nation's best at solving these problems. These 
experiences will certainly benefit these young women in the future.
  The Girls of Steel will compete in the FIRST Championship in Houston, 
Texas, at the end of April--one of the largest competitions of its 
kind. It's essentially the Super Bowl of Smarts. They will compete 
against top teams from all over the world.
  I congratulate the Girls of Steel and wish them all continued success 
in their academic and professional endeavors.

                          ____________________