Mission Statement
The McQuaid IgKnighters are a FIRST robotics team led by students who are "Men and Women for Others." We give our team members a positive, real-world learning experience and ignite a passion for STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Since its formation, the McQuaid IgKnighters robotics team has strived to be “men and women for others.” In 2009, the team was created by a McQuaid Teacher, Mr. John Maxwell, parents Ed and Leo Rivera and two students. At the regional competition that year, they met Ralph Hudak, a mentor for FRC Team 1126, the Webster SparX. Together, they quickly expanded the McQuaid Jesuit robotics team from just two students up to eighteen. When the team began, there was limited knowledge of how to create a successful FRC robotics program and limited resources. Despite this, the team won both the Highest Rookie Seed and the Inspiration Awards in 2010. Building on that success, the McQuaid IgKnighters qualified at the St. Louis World Championships two years later and placed third in the "Galileo" division. As a result of the team's passion for robotics, every year since 2010 we have won various awards and served as ambassadors for FIRST.