Meadville, PA - April 2008

On April 5th 2008, 26 teams from the Northwest Pennsylvania region came together for one unifying purpose… To Battle their Bots Off!

A few short years ago, manufacturers were hit with the realization that technical and engineering talents must be improved in the United States to make an impact in the marketplace and remain globally competitive. Members of the Northwestern Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) have thrown a punch that has smashed through the traditional curriculum and created renewed interest in manufacturing and engineering careers. Students were more than interested. They fought to make RoboBOTS one of the most successful smart sports events ever!

“When many people first lay eyes on our robot they are shocked at the sheer amount of materials we fit in the innards of our body. However, when I look into it, I see 100 small pieces that make up the over all result of a great, destructive machine. It just goes to show that any complex problem can be understood by simply comprehending how each of the smaller parts work” said Clayton Soltesz of Cambridge Springs High School. Clayton’s team Drought 6 won the competition with an Undercutter bot called Fabius.

As a major sponsor, Tech Tool & Molded Plastics jumped into the ring with the students and a sold out crowd of over 1,700 to cheer on an event that is offering life-long career opportunities. Tech’s Director of Marketing, Mark Hanaway stated “The response from the students and teachers produced amazing results. Investing in our community has been one of the most rewarding business practices that Tech considers fundamental to success.”

Student and teacher program evaluations reflected a 100% favorable rating on the success of the program. Students remarked that they loved the hands-on experience and that they were reminded that teamwork is a key ingredient to success. “If you feel that kids don’t have what it takes to make it in today’s world, I challenge you to get into the ring with any of these students. This event has inspired a new class of innovators,” said Hanaway. “Tech thrives on providing solution oriented manufacturing and that requires people that can meet the pressure of deadlines working effectively to accomplish a common goal. This competition strikes at the heart of the educational process and gets students engaged in critical thinking skills.”

Brian Deane, who coordinated the event for the northwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the NTMA, said the day couldn’t have been better. “We’re thrilled with the way it’s all turned out,” said Deane. “We’ve got more schools involved and got a bigger crowd than last year.” Through the process of robot building, student's imaginations are captured as they design, build and compete with their own robotic creations; and through this hands-on effort students gain practical knowledge of math, science, engineering and manufacturing.

SPECIAL AWARD

Brian Deane was honored at Saturday’s RoboBOTS competition with the inaugural President’s Award from the northwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the NTMA. Deane, president of NuTec Tooling Systems of Meadville, has served as volunteer coordinator of the chapter’s RoboBOTS competition for the past two years. The competition is a hands-on robot building initiative for high school students designed to spark interest in technical careers.

“Without his exhaustive time and energy, his dedication to manufacturing and education in the region and his expertise in coordinating such a monumental special project, our robotics competition may have never gotten off the ground,” said Scott Hanaway, past NTMA chapter president and President/ CEO of Tech Molded Plastics, LP. “The award has been initiated by the chapter to pay tribute to an individual within the organization whose efforts and achievement deserve special recognition,” Hanaway said.

What is RoboBOTS?

RoboBOTS is modeled on the BattleBots IQ program. BattleBots IQ (BBIQ) is an educational program created by the producers of the wildly successful BattleBots television series (in which homemade, remote controlled robots face-off in competition). It soon became evident that this activity, the sport of robots in competition, had the unique potential to impact middle school and high school students in a powerful and positive way. Student teams built 15-pound robots to do battle against each other in an arena-competition. It’s a double-elimination tournament.

PLACEMENTS: Winners in the second annual RoboBOTS competition sponsored by the northwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association. First place — Cambridge Springs High School Bot name: Fabius Team name: Drought 6 Second place — Saegertown High School Bot name: Hornet Team name: Team Destruction Third place — Crawford County Area Vocational Technical School Bot name: Revenge Team name: CCAVTS Junior Other winners, voted on by participating schools, were: Coolest bot: Saegertown High School Bot name: Jiblet Team name: Riffraff Best engineered: General McLane High School Bot name: Lancer Bot Team name: General McLane Big Bots King of the Ring: Crawford County Area Vocational Technical School Bot name: Senioritis Team name: Real Neck Sportsmanship: Venango Technology Center Bot name: Grim Ripper Team name: Metalgear Best documentation (chosen by judges): Cambridge Springs High School Bot name: Fabius Team name: Drought 6

Bot repair is intricate work. Communication in action. A team works feverously to make needed repairs.

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