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More than 100 students grades 7-12 gathered at the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition hosted by Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s School of Engineering (SOE). The scrimmage meet was open to teams from the Southern Illinois FIRST League and held Saturday, Nov. 20 in the SOE’s Enterprise Holdings Foundation Atrium.

FIRST is a not-for-profit organization that challenges middle and high school students to think like engineers. Teams of up to 15 students design, build and program a robot to compete in an alliance format against other teams. This was the first in-person league meet since February 2020.

“After a 20-month break from in-person events, it was awesome to see the students interact with other teams,” said Craig Watson, coach of the WormGear Warriors from Edwardsville and 1993 graduate of the SOE’s electrical engineering program. “FIRST is about more than the robot! Sure, we teach STEM skills, but we also teach people skills. In-person events are crucial to developing those interpersonal skills.”

This was the first of three meets leading to a qualifier event in February. Each meet gives students the opportunity to observe, learn and improve their robots. Robots are constructed from commercially available and custom fabricated parts and must fit in an 18-inch-cubed box. Teams program the robots to accomplish tasks, both autonomously and driver-controlled, on a 12-foot by 12-foot competition field.

“FIRST organizes a new game every year, which is unveiled at the start of the season,” said Jon Klingensmith, PhD, associate professor and chair of the SOE’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and assistant coach of the WormGear Warriors. “SIUE hosted a kick-off event in September for the Southern Illinois FIRST League. Six teams gathered in the atrium to see the FIRST livestream of the 2021-22 game reveal and field setup. It gave the teams a chance to interact, share information about their prior season’s robots and get a jumpstart on brainstorming for the new season.”

With a video wall, ample charging stations and electrical outlets, and large open space to foster collaboration, the Enterprise Holdings Foundation Atrium proved ideal for the league’s needs. 

“It was a different setting than we were used to for meets, but we enjoyed being at the SIUE Engineering Building,” said Margaret Paty, sophomore team member of the WormGear Warriors. “After such a long break from in-person events, it was nice to get together again to have some fun and learn a few things."

“The atrium is a perfect location for future engineers to gather and collaborate,” Watson said. “We are looking forward to holding the second meet at this great venue in December and will be adding building tours for the students. As an engineering graduate of SIUE, I truly enjoyed the day and the opportunity to introduce more than 100 potential students to SIUE.”

Photos: Two teams compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition hosted at SIUE.

SIUE’s Enterprise Holdings Foundation Atrium served as a prime location to host the FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition.