High school students putting STEM skills to the test at robotics competition

WEST VALLEY CITY — Hundreds of students from Utah and surrounding states are putting their STEM skills to the test this weekend at the Utah Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

"These kinds of competitions are such a great opportunity to learn the basics of engineering," said Evan Lerner, with the University of Utah College of Engineering. "It's really a holistic way of getting into the engineering mindset of how to work with a team and accomplish goals."

The teams created semi-autonomous robots that are now going head-to-head in a series of games.

This year's game is called "Reefscape." It takes place on a simulated seabed, and the robots have to compete in mechanical challenges like picking up exercise balls, which represent algae, and PVC pipes, which represent coral, and throw them into overhead nets or stack them — all before the final whistle blows.

We caught up with one of the 17 Utah teams — "The Underdogs" from Cottonwood High School — who told us it took about six weeks to build their robot. They're excited to be competing, even though it's high pressure.

"Really fun, really stressed, like, is everything going to work? Is something going to break? Are we going to do well? Are we not going to do well?" said team member and high school junior Carlota Rojas. "We are going to the best we can."

Coach Yuri Perez said an event like this is great preparation for the workforce for these students, and for learning skills like teamwork and resilience.

"What I love about it is I'm seeing them growing," he said. "This actually is teaching them that they can succeed even when things don't work in the beginning."

The competition goes through Saturday at the Maverick Center in West Valley City and is open to the public. The winners will move on to the FIRST Championship in April in Houston, Texas.

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