Mayor Tom Mrakas Visits SolversMind to Celebrate World Championship Success

After learning about SolversMind’s World Championship achievements through local news, Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas visited the SolversMind studio to personally congratulate our two outstanding teams.

The story, published by NewmarketToday, highlighted how two Aurora-based SolversMind teams competed at the 2025 FIRST Championship in Houston and both returned home with major international recognition. FRC Team 10015 Bubbles won the World Rookie All-Star Award, becoming only the second Canadian team in over a decade to receive this global honour. FLL Team 52777 Solvers of X&Y was also recognized as an Innovation Project Award Finalist for its seaweed-based biodegradable plastic project.

Mayor Mrakas’ visit was a meaningful moment for our students, families, and mentors. He congratulated both teams for their achievements and recognized the pride they brought to Aurora through STEM education, robotics, innovation, and youth leadership.

For SolversMind, this season was truly historic. We are proud to be the only organization in Canadian history to bring teams from two different FIRST programs, FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST LEGO League, to the World Championship in the same season, with both teams earning major awards on the world stage.

This achievement reflects more than competition results. It shows what can happen when young students are trusted to lead, build, research, present, code, design, and solve real problems. From FLL to FRC, our students have grown through a culture of student-driven learning, teamwork, perseverance, and Gracious Professionalism.

FRC Team 10015 Bubbles showed the world what a rookie FRC team could achieve with courage, creativity, and complete student ownership. FLL Team 52777 Solvers of X&Y demonstrated how young innovators can use STEM to address real environmental challenges and share meaningful solutions with the world.

Mayor Mrakas’ visit reminded us that these achievements belong not only to our teams, but also to our broader Aurora community. SolversMind is proud to represent Aurora as a growing centre for youth STEM excellence and as an example of what student-driven education can make possible.

We are grateful to Mayor Tom Mrakas for visiting our studio, celebrating our students, and recognizing the hard work behind this incredible journey.

This is the pride of Aurora. This is the power of FIRST. This is what young minds can achieve when they are given the opportunity to lead.