All-girls Clayton robotics team sets example for women in STEM at world championship

CLAYTON, N.C. (WTVD) -- One of the only all-female robotics teams to compete at the FIRST World Robotics Championship in Texas this weekend hails from Clayton, North Carolina.

The G-Force Robotics Team is made up of 12 girls from ten different high schools in Johnston and Wake counties. Roughly 3,500 teams vied for a chance to be invited to the world championship, and only around 600 teams were selected. This is the second year in a row G-Force Robotics has been invited to compete, with them winning the FIRST Robotics World Championship Rookie All-Star award last year.

This year, they were one of only eight teams to take home the Engineering Inspiration award.

"The fact that we won it is insane, and I'm so happy that we got it because we're so focused on the protocol, improving standards, but also promoting girls in STEM, getting more females into the field and inspiring others so that they can see that it's possible for girls to be super successful at it, too," said G-Force Robotics Senior Carolyn Quick.

Quick hopes the team winning this award will set a strong example for young girls in North Carolina.

"I hope this big win kind of shows them that they are just as capable of doing robotics, doing engineering, anything, but they are just as capable," she said. "Have the confidence that you can do it as long as you put your mind to it."

She's setting quite the example herself, she's already been accepted to Purdue University next year to study aerospace engineering, with a very prestigious scholarship sponsored by the Department of Defense.

"I will be working as an aerospace engineer at the Air Force Research Labs once I graduate. It's a full ride scholarship, so I'm super excited to continue my STEM journey," she said.

Her dreams don't stop there, she hopes to continue to pursue aerospace engineering professionally, while maybe becoming a pilot as a hobby. She also said NASA isn't out of the question.

"I would love to work at NASA, you know, maybe even become an astronaut who knows I mean, the possibilities are endless," she said.

The possibilities certainly are endless for Quick and the rest of her impressive team. Though Quick will be off to college, the team is one of only 18 teams that is already invited back to next year's tournament.