NAMPA, Idaho — High school students at the regional FIRST robotics competition in Nampa are vying for a spot at the world championships in Texas. Events like this are a networking opportunity for mechanic, robotic, and electrical engineer students with potential employers.
- Judges for the competition have real-world experience as employees in the engineering field.
- Competition is different every year and teams have just seven weeks to learn, build, design, and code robots.
- Events like this offer students a major advantage as they enter college.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
These bots are built by the next generation of Idaho engineers with a focus on their future.
"If I were still at Idaho Power I would hire these kids out of high school and pay for them to go to college full ride," said University of Idaho adjunct professor Kip Sikes.
Opportunities like that are a product of the passion for constructing robots using hard skills in mechanical and electrical engineering, computer science, and robotic engineering.
"I want to pursue a career in mechanical engineering and just being there and being able to build robots. I've learned several principles that I've been able to apply in my education in school," said Mountain View High School senior Ian Bishop.
The judges for the regional competition have real-world experience as professionals in any choice of their field of engineering and for them, it's a chance to explore opportunities to fill future positions.
"We have some really great sponsors that not only provide sponsorship for the events, they also sponsor teams to allow them to be a *part of the event," added Idaho FIRST Regional Director Lisa Lalliss-Skogsberg.
Each year's competition is new and teams have just 7 weeks to learn the game, design, build, and code their robot. The level of competition brings about major players in the corporate world for students to network with.
"With this club, I've been able to meet some great people in this area with connections. I've been able to talk to directors at HP through another team and get my name known with them," said Columbia High School senior Gage Munt.
Participating in events like this offers students a major advantage as they enter college.
"They are head and shoulders above the students who don't have this type of experience with robotics. The students who come in after doing robotics in high school, they know what to do and how to do it," concluded Sikes.
