From the South Orange-Maplewood School District:
At Columbia High School, a group of students is preparing to take something they built from the ground up and carry it onto one of the world’s biggest stages.
Team 4102, known as Catscan, has earned an invitation to the global robotics championships being held in Houston, Texas from April 29-May 2. It is the program’s first return to the world stage after numerous years, and it comes after years in which simply keeping the club alive required creativity, persistence, and belief.
The roots of the program trace back to longtime advisor Allan Tumolillo, a physics teacher whose dry humor and steady approach helped shape Columbia’s robotics culture.
For nearly a decade, he built a program where students took the lead. They learned by doing, fixing what broke and adjusting when things did not work.
When Tumolillo retired in 2019, he left behind a strong foundation. In the years that followed, the club faced challenges, including shifting advisors and world disruptions. Still, the mindset he built stayed with the students and helped guide the program’s return.
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Pictured from left to right: Evelyn Choi, Ethan Farina, Leim Gries, Rowan Gries, Z Luciano, and Alex Nasberg-Abrams — and Suzanne Falk down in front.
Over time, that quiet determination began to turn into something more visible. By the end of the 2024 school year, students had worked to meaningfully rebuild the program. They recruited new members, established leadership, and brought a renewed sense of direction to the team. During the 2024–2025 season, two teams qualified for the state championship, signaling that the program was not only returning but also gaining strength.
This school year, that growth continued. The club expanded to three teams, and once again, two advanced to the New Jersey State Championship. It was there that Catscan distinguished itself with a performance that reflected both technical precision and creative problem-solving.
The team finished as a Division Finalist, earning an invitation to compete at the world championships alongside nearly 9,000 teams from around the globe. Their performance across the season placed them first in New Jersey in average individual scoring, 12th in the United States, and 29th worldwide. They also ranked 40th globally in autonomous scoring and 45th in tele-operated scoring, while setting a New Jersey state match point record with 324 points.
Behind those accomplishments is a group of students who have been building toward this moment for years. Several team members began their journey in a local MAPSO community robotics program as early as fifth grade. That experience continued through middle school, where they were part of a co-champion team, and into high school, where they took on the responsibility of helping to rebuild the program during a time of uncertainty.
Without a consistent structure in place, students stepped into leadership roles that went well beyond competition. They helped secure a new advisor, Ms. Suzanne Falk, organized their participation in events, and managed the resources needed to keep the program running. Throughout that time, parents stepped in to support the effort, helping sustain the club until it regained its footing.
As the program began to stabilize, broader community support followed. The Achieve Foundation provided financial stewardship, and local mentors worked alongside students to guide a long-term rebuilding strategy. That plan included a clear and ambitious goal: to return Columbia robotics to the world championships by the 2025–2026 season.
That goal has now been realized.
As the team prepares for Texas, the community is once again coming together to support the journey. A fundraising campaign has been launched to help cover travel and competition costs, ensuring that the students who rebuilt the program have the opportunity to fully experience this moment.
In the days leading up to the competition, Maker Madness will serve as both a celebration and a send-off, offering the community a chance to rally around the team as they prepare to represent Columbia High School on a global stage.
What makes this moment meaningful is not only the destination, but the path that led here. This is a story of students who chose to build, even when the outcome was uncertain, and who now have the opportunity to see just how far their work can take them.
