Robotics Club Receives Donation of Tools and Parts From Patterson-UTI Energy and NexTier Oilfield Solutions

Representatives of Houston, TX-based companies Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. and NexTier Oilfield Solutions Inc. met with members of the LSMSA Robotics Club at Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts (LSMSA) on Thursday, Feb. 20 to present a donation of tools and parts that will assist the club and its team, Team #9761, in the upcoming FIRST Robotics Competition Bayou Regional. Patterson-UTI and NexTier are leading providers of drilling and completion services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies. Patterson-UTI and NexTier team members who traveled to Natchitoches to present the donation included: Joe Brown, Director, Technical Training; Johnny Coburn, Supervisor, Electronics Training; and Brian Beaubouef, Electronic Technician.

 

The donation was initiated when Patterson-UTI and NexTier were contacted by the LSMSA Robotics Club. Olivia Luebbert (’26), Event Coordinator and Outreach Manager, worked with Anika Chegireddy ('26), Secretary and Treasurer, to draft an email that LSMSA robotics students sent to potential sponsors.

 

“We were contacted by the LSMSA Robotics Club, who needed a little bit of help getting materials and tools for their project,” Coburn said. “We were delighted to help. We ordered some things, decided to deliver them in-person, and here we are.”

 

“They've been super-helpful in helping us get what we needed for our robot,” said Amelia Willis ('26), LSMSA Robotics Club Captain. “This donation includes several of the last pieces that we needed. We're just really excited for how everything is coming together.”

 

 

Mr. Edwin Perez, Associate Lecturer of Computer Science, said that his role as the club’s faculty sponsor is to provide mentorship and help with shop tasks like cutting metals and drilling holes.

 

“It’s really a fantastic group,” Mr. Perez said. “The main ideas, the hardest parts of the task, like building the ‘brain’ of the robot—they’ve done all of that on their own.”

The FIRST Robotics Competition Bayou Regional will be held, April 2-5, at the Pontchartrain Center in Kenner. Fifty-six teams will compete in 2025, which is the 34th year of the competition. Winning teams will advance to the FIRST Championship in Houston, where teams from all over the world will compete for the ultimate title.

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