The FIRST Tech Challenge Championship is coming back to Missouri S&T starting 11:50 a.m. Saturday, March 8, in the Gale Bullman Building, located at 705 W. 10th St.  

Using robots they have designed, built and programmed, teams will compete head-to-head in a sports-like model on a 12-by-12-foot field, and are tasked to dive their robots into the depth of the “ocean” to collect various samples. Of course, teams must use their imagination to picture the ocean surrounding the game. 

Hosted by the Kummer Center for STEM Education, the championship welcomes 36 teams of middle and high school students from Missouri and Kansas who advanced through League Tournaments and Super Qualifiers. This year’s FIRST Tech Challenge theme is “into the deep,” presented by RTX.  

“We’re excited to host the FIRST Tech Challenge again this year,” says Courtney Jones, director of the Kummer Center for STEM Education. “What some people might not know is that the challenge isn’t just about building robots; it’s about collaboration.” 

Teams compete on and off the playing field for awards that recognize robot design and performance, community outreach, professionalism and promoting FIRST in their communities. Each team consists of roles in mechanical engineering, coding, programming, design and public relations.  

“Collaboration is what it’s all about,” says Roxanne Hanna, associate director of the Kummer Center for STEM Education. “It’s not just how the robot runs;: it’s how the team succeeds, which is a really neat model.” 

The STEM Center mentors and provides scholarships to FIRST Tech Challenge participants. Many participants later become S&T students. 

“The challenge is very heavy in robotics and engineering, so those students fit really well here at S&T,” Jones says. “We get students from across the nation that have been competing in this challenge. They bring valuable experience to our design teams, too.” 

Once those students arrive at S&T, they can continue to be involved in the FIRST Tech Challenge. The FIRST Alumni Association at Missouri S&T is a student-led organization in which former competitors who are now college students can mentor K-12 teams. 

“They love the opportunity to play a role in helping those teams back at their former schools,” Jones says. “We’ll have lots of those students helping the teams this year.” 

The competition is free and open to the public. Spectators can watch in person at the Gale Bullman Building or watch the livestream online. Live scoring will also be available on the FIRST Tech Challenge events website. 

About Missouri S&T 

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit  www.mst.edu.