Congratulations to seniors Timothy Hill and Elijah Pomales and teacher/coach Albert Bangs from the Rome Free Academy robotics team, as they captured first place and the grand prize at the 17th Annual Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Challenge Competition!
With the victory, Hill and Pomales earned a $2,500 contribution to their New York 529 college savings account.
RFA was one of several schools across the Mohawk Valley who competed in the competition, hosted by Griffiss Institute in collaboration with AFRL and held at the Innovare Advancement Center during spring recess April 6-10.
“My favorite part of the week was putting together all the knowledge we learned and resources we discovered to figure things out,” Hill shared following the victory. “I learned mostly how to take something new to me and dissect it to where I understand everything about it, and the presentation made me very confident in explaining my thoughts.”
Each team, which consisted of one teacher and two students, were given the task of teaching an AI-powered pilot how to extinguish fires with no human intervention. Students were challenged to design and train the pilot within a simulated environment, using reinforcement learning to improvement performance and guide their agent to complete missions with speed and precision.
Each team then presented its solution to a panel of judges on the fifth and final day of the challenge, which also included a presentation showcase and a formal awards ceremony where RFA was announced as the winning team.
“My favorite part of the week was the presentation and applying all of the knowledge we learned,” Pomales said after the win. “I learned about reinforcement learning and its applications in the real world, helping me to grow and have more confidence for my future career.”
For a complete overview and recap of this year’s (AFRL) Challenge Competition, please visit the Griffiss Institute website.
RFA senior Elijah Pomales, left, and senior Timothy Hill, right, pose with the first-place trophy after winning the 2026 AFRL Challenge Competition. (Photo above and cover photo courtesy of Griffiss Institute).
RFA senior Elijah Pomales, left, and senior Timothy Hill, right, present their solution during the 2026 AFRL Challenge Competition (Photo courtesy of Coach Bangs).
In both photos above, RFA seniors Elijah Pomales and Timothy Hill are hard at work during the 2026 AFRL Challenge Competition (Photos courtesy of Coach Bangs).