Joining our team
Interested in joining the Iron Panthers? Come to our afterschool recruitment informational meeting on Tuesday, 8/26/2025 @ C106 and rotations day on Thursday, 8/28/2025
About Us
The Iron Panthers is a student-built, student-run robotics team founded in 2013, representing Burlingame High School. We compete in FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), an an international robotics league for high schoolers. Our team consists of over 60 students of all experience levels, part of engineering, programming, business, or strategy subteams.
Iron Panthers also get the opportunity to volunteer at our outreach events that give back to our community. These include robot demos at community events, our STEM summer camp, and our weekly afterschool program Cub Central. These events are a great way to earn volunteer hours and give back to your community, and all members are encouraged to participate.
We attend ~6 competitions each year, both local and farther away.
Meeting Schedule
For Fall 2025, here is our offseason meeting schedule:
Monday: 3:50-6:00 — Engineering and programming meeting
Tuesday: 3:30-8:00 — All subteam meeting (+ team dinner)
Thursday: 3:30-8:00 — All subteam meeting (+ team dinner)
Friday: 3:00-4:00 — Leads meeting (anyone can attend!)
There will also be occasional Saturday meetings from 1:00-6:00, and occasional team bonding events on Sundays.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What experience do I need to join?
A: None! Any student at Burlingame High School can join, regardless of prior experience levels. Our student leaders train new members in everything they need to become successful members of our team.
Q: Do I need to go to all of the meetings?
A: None of the meetings are “mandatory”, but you get out what you put in. We do not track attendance, but if you are interested in the topic or would like a leadership position next year, it will help you greatly to attend as much as possible.
Q: What is offseason / onseason?
A: Offseason (August - December) is the more relaxed time in between games, where we focus on training and preparing for onseason. Onseason (January - April) is when a new game is released, and we start building a brand-new robot. We have a more intense schedule and 2-3 competitions.
Q: Can I change subteams?
A: Of course! If you would like to switch subteams and try something new, we recommend switching in the early fall semester, in order to complete the training curriculum before onseason in the Spring semester. More info on our subteams here.
Q: Who can I contact for questions?
A: You can email us directly at burlingamerobotics@gmail.com with any questions or concerns.