A Sporting Event for Curious Minds

Through an organization called FIRST, Bechtel is helping high school students learn what it takes to design and build robots — and to become business leaders.

In late March, Bechtel was a sponsor for the Washington, D.C., regional in the annual worldwide FIRST Robotics Competition, and also sponsored a nine-student team from Frederick’s Tuscorara High School at the Chesapeake regional in Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, the company financed the Program Corner at the competition’s Washington event,
where elementary- and middle-school students gave robot demonstrations.

Every year, teams in the robotics competition face a different challenge. This year, they had to design robots from a standard set of parts that could pick up inner tubes and hang them on poles up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall. The Tuscarora team’s robot — featuring wood arms, car window motors, and a gripper that worked like a fishing net — didn’t make the finals but gave a good account of itself in the competition, which included 60 teams from five states.

For more information on the First Robotics programs, visit usfirst.org.