At just 14 years old, Boys Town Jerusalem ninth-grader Amichai Romaine has become the youngest Team Captain in the history of BTJ’s renowned FTC Robotics Team. And his rise to success has just begun…
“The perfect choice for team captain”
“The entire team agreed that Amichai knows everything about robotics and believes that anything is possible,” says team advisor Shay Neuhaus. “He’s the perfect choice for FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) team captain, despite being the youngest member.”
A natural engineer from the very beginning
Amichai readily admits that robotics has always been part of him. “Even as a little kid, I’d look at something—like the doors on a bus—and imagine how I would build them differently,” he recalls. “When I joined the extracurricular FLL (FIRST Lego League) Robotics Team in 7th grade, I was fascinated by mechanics and coding. On my very first day of learning, I started teaching.”
Learning, teaching, and leading as a team
The following year, he became the youngest member ever to join the school’s FTC team. “Robotics involves constant learning,” he explains. “Building a robot requires tremendous teamwork in planning, coding, and mechanics. As captain, my job is to help every team member give his maximum.”
Last year, Amichai and his teammates proudly celebrated BTJ’s second-place finish out of 41 teams in the 2025 Israeli FTC Robotics Competition, along with the prestigious Innovate Award for robot design. “We won because our robot was totally unique. The key is ingenuity and simplicity.” Amichai salutes the crucial role of the school’s 3-D printer in the team’s success. “We design and produce about 40% of our robot’s parts right here.”
Giving back beyond the competition
As the team spends countless days and nights in BTJ’s Follender Robotics Center, Amichai is especially proud that they also volunteer to mentor new robotics teams across Jerusalem. “We all want to give of ourselves and contribute to the future.”