Who we Are

Team Berkelium is a Berkeley based high school robotics team, open to any students who want to join, regardless of technical background. Every year, we compete in international FIRST robotics competitions against thousands of other high school teams. Our mission is to provide high school students hands-on experience in STEM and business that they will carry with them through college and into their future careers.

History

Our team was founded in 2015 as Team 5499. At the time, the team was independent of the high school. The team was given access to an old basement and was able to participate in the 2015 robotics season. After the end of the season that year, the team was able to find space at Berkeley High School and became a club there. At the end of that season, the team had grown considerably in size. The team remained at Berkeley High School until halfway through the 2017 season, when there were some disputes between the student leadership and the team mentors. Team 5499 split off from the school and moved back into the basement that they were in originally.

Some of the students stayed behind and created a new team, Team 5419. The 2017 season was rough, as most of the tools had gone with Team 5499. The team persevered and competed at the San Francisco regional. That summer, the school renovated the space where Team 5419 was working and build a beautiful new shop. In 2018, Team 5419 was much more successful. The team built a much better robot than the previous year and was able to compete at two events. In 2019, Team 5419 built a even better robot that made it to the semi-finals of the Central Valley Regional. In the 2020 season both Teams 5499 and Team 5419 merged and re-branded our name as Berkelium and kept the number 5419. 

 

Our Team