Meadville, PA - January 2007

There is electricity in the air as hundreds of screaming fans gather to root on their favorite team. There is the whir of motors, clashes of steel, and sparks fly. The crowd noise grows to a feverish pitch. A modern day gladiator event, you ask? Well, kind of. This is a BattleBots IQ competition and it is the latest in what is being called “smart sports” and it may be coming to an area near you.

BattleBots IQ is an educational program created in 2001 by the producers of the successful television program BattleBots (in which homemade robots fight to the death in competition). Through the design and build of their own robots, middle, high and college students’ minds are engaged in powerful and positive ways. Through the process of robot building students are exposed to hands-on application of mathematics, physics, science, engineering and manufacturing.

Tech Tool & Molded Plastics, a precision tooling and molding manufacturing business in Northwestern Pennsylvania, has embraced the BattleBots IQ Competition and has joined the program as a major sponsor. Tech’s President/ CEO, Scott Hanaway, also serves as President of the Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA). The NTMA is a founding sponsor of the BattleBots IQ program.

“I feel so strongly about the value of this program to students that it became one of my personal goals for my tenure as President of the local NTMA Chapter. The BattleBots IQ program is able to challenge students and create intelligent, bright, self-confident kids with a full palette of engineering skills, but it is also creating our countries future innovators. I feel confident that programs like BattleBots IQ will help train a workforce who knows how to trouble shoot, problem solve and invent new technology. These are the exact skill sets that Tech looks for in employees. Further, these future employees and business owners will help keep innovation thriving in this ever changing climate of globalization and outsourcing. ”

Kenni Hoffman, Tech Tool & Molded Plastics’ Maintenance Supervisor, became involved with robots over 5 years ago when he helped a friend prepare for a national robotics competition. When Hoffman heard that BattleBots IQ was coming to the Northwestern PA area, he did not hesitate to volunteer his services. Hoffman will serve on the Contest Committee as an official who will inspect the robots against specifications for the May 5th competition. Hoffman notes that there are over 80 pages of regulations that the teams and the robots must meet before they are allowed to compete.

“The great thing about BattleBots IQ is the involvement of the kids. They get a chance to use both their hands and their heads to solve real problems,” stated Hoffman. “The kids must take their robot from a design concept, through manufacturing, competition, and then be prepared to solve problems encountered in the ring and fix the robot so that it can continue.”

Mark Hanaway, Tech’s Director of Marketing and Sales, will also be involved with the BattleBots IQ program serving on the Marketing Committee to promote the event. Sponsorships are still needed.

The BattleBots IQ program will be hosted at Meadville Area Senior High School on May 5th, 2007. There are currently ten local schools competing.