Under strict rules, limited time and resources, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, hone teamwork skills, build, and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student can get. Teams get 9 weeks to prototype, design, build, program, and test their robots before they travel to compete in a 3 on 3 competition format for 3 days against other teams, fighting for a chance to advance to the state and world championship in Carrolton and Houston respectively.
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is a competition for grade 7-12 students to design and build robots to compete in a game that changes each year. The goal of the competition is to inspire students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Teams of students work with mentors from the community to design and build a robot in a limited amount of time, and then compete against other teams in regional and national competitions. The competition combines the excitement of sports with the rigors of science and technology, and is a great way for students to develop teamwork and problem-solving skills.
BEST, a middle and high school robotics competition whose mission is to engage and excite students about engineering, science, and technology as well as inspire them to pursue careers in these fields. Through participation in our project-based STEM program, students learn to analyze and solve problems utilizing the Engineering Design Process, which helps them develop technological literacy skills. It is these skills that industry seeks in its workforce.