Vector Space is pleased to welcome two new board members in January 2025. Swathi Prabhu and Alisha Meador have both worked with Vector Space as partners and advocates for several years. We are grateful for their commitment to join us on the board, as we continue to build a thriving makerspace! Learn more about each of our new board members below.
 Swathi Prabhu currently works at Innovative Wireless Technologies, Inc as Director of Engineering. She has worked at IWT for over 20 years, designing and developing software for real-time simulation and mission-critical applications that have been deployed at hundreds of customer sites around the world. Prior to joining IWT, Swathi worked at TRAX International where she was the lead software engineer for developing real-time training simulators for use in power plants. A Lynchburg resident for 25 years, Swathi is committed to fostering technology and education within the community. She currently serves on the board of Virginia Episcopal School and has previously held leadership roles on the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee for James River Day School.
She has also volunteered as a FLL Robotics coach and as a coach for the Girls on the Run program for multiple years. Swathi is also a proud Vector Space parent, with her children having participated in numerous camps, sparking their interest in STEM and hands-on learning.
Alisha Meador works in Economic Development for the City of Lynchburg, and also serves on the regional Workforce Development Board. A Midwest transplant, Alisha moved to Lynchburg in 2006 after attending college locally, and is now proud to call Lynchburg home. Alisha received a Bachelor's degree in Special Education and Psychology, and a Master's certification in Job Placement and Training. She has worked with Vector Space in a variety of capacities over the years, and is excited to be serving in this current role.
When she's not working, Alisha enjoys gardening, reading, random Saturday adventures, and supporting local businesses. You can often find her at the ballfields cheering on her two sons, or at a youth symphony concert, or monitoring copious amounts of screen time for said sons. Wherever she is, she is always planning her next big trip - usually to England.
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⭐️ Introducing the NEW Junior Maker Program ⭐️
With support from the The Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, Vector Space is thrilled to announce a new effort to increase youth participation in maker activities. At each visit to a Vector Space Outreach Event (to include First Friday, Maker Faire Lynchburg, and Vector Space Robot Combat), youth will complete the available hands-on activity. Once five Outreach Event activities have been completed in a single calendar year, youth can notify staff that they are ready to take the Junior Maker Pledge! A commemorative wooden badge and certificate of achievement will be awarded to all youth that complete the program, and a new badge will be available each year. An updated list of Outreach Events is available here: vector-space.org/events
More about each Outreach Event:
- First Friday | Every First Friday Vector Space opens its doors to the public with a Skill Share and Open House Tour. Volunteers will be on hand to give tours of the makerspace and guide you through the evening’s activity. First Friday is always free, family friendly and open to the public. Entry donations of $2 or more are welcome and appreciated. Tours and drop in activities are available from 5-8pm; no registration necessary.
- Maker Faire Lynchburg | Lynchburg Maker Faire is an annual celebration of making at Randolph College, 2500 Rivermont Avenue in Lynchburg! Tied into Randolph’s amazing week-long SciFest event, Maker Faire is a celebration of those who make and those with an insatiable curiosity for the world. We are excited to show you the amazing projects, delightful products, and interactive learning activities the makers in our area have come up with. Join us on Sunday, March 30, 2025 for a day of making; 11am-4pm. For more details, visit: lynchburg.makerfaire.com
- Vector Space Robot Combat | Hosted by Vector Space at Virginia Episcopal School each Fall, this is a smaller version of BattleBots. Competitors will battle their one and three pound bots in our 8' enclosed arena. Register online to compete with your robot, or attend to watch the competition. Prizes include tools, robot parts, Vector Space membership and more. There is no fee or registration required for spectators to attend and watch the battle! An activity book will be available for purchase to get credit toward the Junior Maker Program. Stay tuned for more information about our 2025 event on November 1.
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Each month Vector Space staff are paying attention to what contributions members are making to the maker community whether it be through being a leader, making things, pushing themselves, volunteering or mentoring we are looking for exemplary members to recognize as The Maker of the Month. A Vector Space M.O.M, if you will, is someone who exemplifies great “makerism”. We define makerism as someone who is:
Rules:
Our final Maker of the Month for 2024 is Judi Muir. Congrats Judi! Not only are you in the top seven door swipers of the year but you are great at making things picture perfect with paint around the space, a truly star powered volunteer! You are incredibly dedicated to diversifying your learning and we are so happy for you to have found a passion for 3D printing! You help make this a great makerspace and you are a blossoming maker! We can't wait to see where you go with your work this year!
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Thanks for your interest in the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition Team hosted by Vector Space. Below are frequently asked questions to help your family decide if FRC is a good fit for you.
- Where can I learn more about the FIRST Robotics Competition?
- What is Vector Space?
- Located at 2004 Memorial Avenue, Vector Space is a nonprofit community makerspace that fosters hands-on education for teens and adults. We offer tours on the First Friday of each month, 5-8pm if you’d like to see our 23,000 workshop. Read about our Educational Philosophy here: https://vector-space.org/files/edu_case_statement.pdf
- I received a “Golden Ticket” (actually stainless steel). What does it mean?
- Congratulations! A Golden Ticket is the equivalent of a teacher (or other respected adult) recommendation. Hold on to your ticket and enter the code on the back of the card on your application when prompted. Golden Tickets strengthen an application in the eyes of the Application Review Committee.
- What is the timeline for joining the team?
- Sept 19: Applications Open
- Nov 3: Applications Due
- Nov 22: Team Roster Announced
- Dec 8: Payment + Student Commitment Due
- Dec 18: Team Meet & Greet event at Vector Space
- Jan 4: First Meeting
- Build Season (Jan 4 - Feb 15)
- Meetings Mon-Thurs 6-8:30pm
- Meetings Saturday 10am-4pm
- Competition Season (Feb 15 - March 29)
- Meetings Mon-Wed 6-8:30pm
- Feb 28 - March 2: Travel to Competition in Richmond
- March 21 - 23: Travel to Competition in Blacksburg
- TBA: Additional travel depending on team performance during regular season (District Championship is April 3-6 in Maryland)
- Post Season (March 30 - January 2026)
- March 30: First Outreach Event - Maker Faire Lynchburg at Randolph College
- TBA: Additional Outreach Events throughout the year (3-5 total)
- What is included in the $400 registration fee? Will there be additional costs?
- Team registration includes the following:
- 140+ hours of coached robotics
- Team t-shirt
- Travel to 2 regional competitions (travel and accommodations for team participants)
- Costs not included in the registration fee:
- Meals during competition travel
- Additional travel expenses, pending team qualification for State or National competitions
- What tools and skills will participants be learning?
- There will be opportunities to learn the following:
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- Field & Obstacle Construction
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- What prior experience is expected from applicants?
- While no prior experience is required, any projects that display curiosity and an interest in how things work will help a student’s application. Formal programs are great (camps, after school clubs, classroom projects), but they are not the only way to express an interest in engineering. Tinkering projects, inventions, creative builds, and sketchbooks are all great items to share with the Application Review Committee. And of course, prior experience at Vector Space or another workshop is highly valued.
- How will applicants be selected for the team?
- We have selected a number of individuals in the community to serve on an Application Review Committee; this committee will do a blind assessment of FRC applications received. Identifying information will be removed from applications before the committee selects their top picks. Committee members include parents, educators, and professionals in our community.
- There will be a maximum of 15 students selected for the FRC team. To be eligible, all students must be in grades 9-12 (ages 14 to 18). Students from any area public, private, or home school are eligible.
- Strong applications will include a clear interest and passion for joining the team; prior experience in hands-on or engineering programs; creative students with unusual perspectives; self-driven students that have created independent projects; students with leadership skills; students with technical skills; students with soft skills such as public speaking, writing, and community outreach; and students that work well in a team setting.
- Do you need volunteers or mentors for the FRC team?
- Yes! Mentors can let us know of their interest here: https://vector-space.org/frc-mentor-interest-form
- If you’d like to help as a parent we will have opportunities for parent engagement throughout the year. Examples include providing snacks, planning team dinners, travel to competitions, help with outreach events, and more.
- How else can I support the team?
- I have additional questions. Who should I contact?
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Lynchburg has a new high school robotics team!
 APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN! APPLY HERE BEFORE THE NOV 1 DEADLINE.
This year Vector Space is partnering with local engineering, educational, and workforce partners to bring an amazing opportunity to teens: competition robotics! Combining the excitement of sport with the rigors of STEM, FIRST® Robotics Competition (ages 14-18 / grades 9-12) teams use sophisticated technology to build and program industrial-sized robots to play an action-packed, alliance-based game on a themed field that changes every year. With guidance from mentors and sponsors, students learn engineering and problem-solving skills that they can apply to real-world situations today and in the future. Teams of students compete for awards, while they also create a team identity, raise funds, hone teamwork skills, and advance respect and appreciation for STEM within the local community.
Join us on Thursday, September 19 from 6:30-7:30pm in the E.C. Glass High School Cafeteria to meet FRC teams from around the state and learn more about Lynchburg's new team.
We'll have food, prizes, and robots for you to check out. Each teen that attends is eligible for our awesome door prizes:
- 4 Pack of Tickets to Super Rad Arcade
- FIRST Swag
- DJI Mini 2 SE Fly More Combo Drone ($450 value!)
Parents are invited to attend as well, to learn more about the student commitment for FRC participation. Community partners will have information on additional STEM opportunities and careers.
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN! APPLY HERE BEFORE THE NOV 1 DEADLINE.
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In our ninth year Vector Space has reached a rythm with some of our programming. While there is always opportunity for a rogue project request (hello, prosthetic swim leg), we do have some reliable events that you can set your calendar to. Check out what's happening each month at Vector Space, both for members and the public. And, don't miss our monthly First Friday events, an Open House from 5-8pm each month hosted by volunteer members providing tours and a hands-on activity free for the public.
Find upcoming events listed individually here: vector-space.org/events
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For the 6th time in Hill City Combat Robot history Vector Space brought robot makers from far and wide to our little Lynchburg hamlet to cheer, to clash, to laugh and to cry but most importantly to leave with absolute resolve to rebuild stronger, better and more bots for next year. This annual event attracts 200 to 300 spectators each year and is hosted on the beautiful campus of Virginia Episcoble School in their historic wrestling gymnasium. Onlookers enjoy a birds eye view of the battling bots from the gym’s unique mezzanine.
Never had the pleasure of witnessing the ruckus rounds of flying robot weapons, learn the ways of this Battle Bot-esque competition? In this sporting event, teams can enter their home-built bot into one of two categories; the Antweight class for robots no heavier than 1lb or the Beetleweight class, no heavier than 3lbs. Robots must be weighed before they can enter the arena and although they sound small they require a fortified mini gym to exercise their strength and protect the audience from airborne metal, plastic or electrical detritus. After Judges carefully check robots weights and safety requirements, two contestants take to their corners and use the ready indicator to signify it’s time for the match to begin. Bots battle for three minutes before judges decide who goes on to the next round. Robots and their drivers continue to clash for hours in our double elimination tournament until only one comes out on top.
A special feature to the event this year was the addition of a brand new arena. The arena, a sturdy 8’x8’x4’ observation cube, built by program director and founder of Vector Space, Adam Spontarelli, was built on site at the makerspace. The arena, which could be described as a temporary robot prison or robo torture dome, was built with steel bumpers, double pane polycarbonate windows, a full ceiling and more to accommodate all the explosive nature of this event. This arena should withstand years of robot brutalization. Andrew Burks, Paul Van De Graf and Bill Guzeck, makers of Vector Space, teamed with Adam to add other snazzy event enhancing features such as the oh so smashable ready buttons and the illuminated countdown clock. And believe it or not, Vector Space developed an original open source robot design for the competition! Interested in our open source robot designs… sorry! you'll have to hear more about Vector Space’s exciting plans and the ambitious places those open robos are headed in the unveiling in a future blog post.
Fans and competitors agree, there is no event like robot combat, it's thrilling, it's a sport of strength and intellect but it's also lighthearted, good humored, family friendly and at times hilarious. Families often join forces as a team, a father daughter duo or a suit of brothers. In keeping with the spirit of fun, teams don't hesitate to go to the end of the universe and back searching for the perfectly obscure name. This year we saw robots with names such as Chaos Banana, McWolverine and my personal favorite Chicken Bot Pie. Competition on this occasion lasted for hours until only the best bots were left standing. This Year the best robot overall and the winner of several housemade trophies, thank you Elise, went to Antweight and Beetleweight champ, hauling all the way from Loveland Ohio, team Striped Might! In the end, Vector Space staff, event volunteers, judges and our fabulous announcer, Jeff Benson, gladly received acclaim from seasoned competitors “Vector Space's robot combat event is in their top three ever.”
A hearty thank you to everyone who makes this event possible. Bringing the excitement and joy of this spectacular event to Lynchburg is a pleasure and a privilege.
Sponsorship for this event provided by the Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, WRVB Law, L3 Harris, VES, Lynchburg tourism association and Oldham Dentistry. Thank you for another great year sponsors!
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