Smart Thinkers Tinker With Engineering at FIRST Robotics Regionals

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Nothing could have prepared me for the scene ToastedRav was met with at Chaifetz Arena for the 2009 FIRST Robotics Regional Competition. Huge robots were dueling, fans in matching neon attire were doing the wave and everyone was wearing incredibly attractive safety glasses (including yours truly). Throw in a little Beyonce remix and you have yourself one of the largest and craziest gatherings of America's future engineers, which thanks to the St. Louis Science Center, includes 42 teams of the area's high school students.

This unique and challenging sport of sorts all started out a few weeks ago with a video objective, and teams of high schoolers had only a short time to build a robot that was the best at completing that objective. As you can see, this year it was all about baskets and balls. The 20-year-old organization was designed to help high-school-aged young people discover how interesting a future in engineering can be. From what we saw at the competition, our future is in good hands.

For a look at the dueling robots and the future engineers behind them at this year's FIRST Robotics Regional competition, click on the Featured Video tab.

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