BotsIQ SWPA's photostream  

This is the photo group for the BotsIQ competition in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Faced with an aging manufacturing workforce, The Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association spear-headed efforts to bring a national student robotics program to the Pittsburgh region. Local manufacturers and educators joined forces in 2005, and with just 6 schools, launched BotsIQ. Now, in its sixth year, the program has exploded to include nearly 40 schools and its own fan base. Working with a Robotics Curriculum based on the National Curriculum Standards and Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) mechanical engineering methodology, southwestern Pennsylvania students are taught to design, build and battle robots in a gladiator-style competition. The competition draws on students' knowledge of math, science, engineering and even public speaking. Perhaps most importantly, students see that building things is challenging, it's fun, and IT'S A POTENTIAL CAREER.

Students, their teachers and their manufacturing partners are working RIGHT NOW to construct their bots for battle. The preliminary competition is set for MARCH 25 & 26, 2011 AT CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA. The finals will be held on APRIL 15 & 16, 2011 AT WESTMORELAND COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE IN YOUNGWOOD, PA.

For more information about the program go to www.botsiqpa.org

For questions about these photos or the photo site, please contact Scott at sdietz@catalystconnection.org