St. Clair College continued their partnership for another year hosting the kick-off event for the 2023 Windsor-Essex First Robotics Great Lakes District Event at the main campus Student Life Centre.
The campus was energized with participants for the local high school 2023 FIRST Robotics competition.
This year's theme is called "Charged Up."
High School students from Sandwich Secondary School, St. Anne's Catholic High School, Massey Secondary School, Belle River Secondary School, Holy Names Catholic High School, Kennedy Secondary School, St. Thomas of Villa Nova Catholic High School, Build A Dream Robotics and United Mennonite Education Institute will compete in the regional event March 31- April 1 at the University of Windsor.
Each school is mentored by professional engineers, programmers, and entrepreneurs, and teams compete with up-to-120-pound robots compete, combining the excitement of sport with the rigours of science and technology.
Teams were provided with their model kits after participating in a live video presentation promoting all aspects of this year's competition.
St. Clair College presented each team with $1,000 and offered every participant a St. Clair College entrance scholarship to those who are going to continue their education upcoming fall semester in September.
FIRST Robotics shared, "The competition is the highest level of robotics competition offered by FIRST. High-school students team up with the world's best technology companies to build the most impressive robots you've ever seen. These 5-foot tall, 140-pound robots compete in high-intensity robot-sports. With bragging rights at stake for schools and the companies that support them, robotics takes on a pro-sports experience. Watch the best of the best in robotics come out to play.
First Robotics Competition combines the excitement of sport with the rigours of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams of 25 students or more are challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build and program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It's as close to "real-world engineering" as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team."
"The Windsor Essex, Great Lakes Regional, is one part NASCAR, one part Super Bowl, and one part rock concert. It's young people working closely with industry mentors as a team to solve complex problems. The FIRST program challenges kids, teaches them real-world skills and ignites the passion that we all look for on our teams in the industry. We have supported FIRST teams for over ten years and have hired some great FIRST alumni. The program works."
Michael J. Beneteau CEO, CenterLine (Windsor) Ltd.
