SCC hosted 19th annual GM Robotics Challenge

Published: 03/15/2017

Record-breaking numbers of teams participated in St. Charles Community College’s 19^th Annual GM Robotics Challenge Friday, March 3. Fifty teams – totaling 260 students – participated from 34 middle schools and 16 high schools.

“Events like these are very important for student because it gives them the opportunity to explore the world of STEM,” said Tammie De Los Santos, associate dean of college and career readiness. “This competition not only provides students the opportunity to work together for a common goal, but to learn from each other as well as get feedback from professionals in the industry.”

Brian Steber, senior manufacturing engineering at General Motors Wentzville Assembly Center, once again wrote the challenge for the students based on real-world applications used at General Motors.

Teams were challenged to build a material handling robot. “Our students look forward to this challenge every year and the whole experience, from coming up with design ideas to standing in front of the judges; it is more helpful to students’ futures than they know,” said one participating teacher.

The competition was divided up into six divisions. Judges included 36 professionals who represented a variety of industries.

Black Division:

1. Team Korruption – St. Charles High School
2. Bro Bots – St. Charles West High School
3. Team Farnsworth – St. Charles High School

Yellow Division:

1. Average Joes – St. Charles West High School
2. AlphaBots – St. Charles West High School
3. Cold Magicians – St. Charles High School

Blue Division:

1. The Flashy Kartoffels – Saeger Middle School
2. Funky Pandas – Barnwell Middle School
3. 7^th Sensations – Orchard Farm Middle School

Gray Division:

1. Dream Machines – Francis Howell Middle
2. Fin Dovah Kriid – Saeger Middle School
3. GearTurners – Jefferson Intermediate

Green Division:

1. Hex-Tech – Barnwell Middle School
2. The Dream Team – Saeger Middle School
3. Lamborghini LEGOS – Barnwell Middle School

Maroon Division

1. Spare Parts – Barnwell Middle School
2. Drop the Beet – Barnwell Middle School
3. Fruity Pebbles – Saeger Middle School

“This is the first year in the event’s history that we had two all-girl middle school teams take first place in their respective divisions,” De Los Santos said. “These results validate the fact that more girls are pursuing an interest in STEM, as the female participation in this competition continues to grow each year!”

Breakout sessions presented during the day included General Motors Predictive Technology, Rockwell Automation, SCC Engineering, 3-D Printing, St. Louis University High School Weather Balloons, Microsoft and The National Weather Service.

Sponsors of the event included General Motors – Wentzville and SCC Workforce Development.

For more information on the Robotics Challenge, contact Tammie De Los Santos at tdelosantos@stchas.edu.

St. Charles Community College is a public, comprehensive two-year community college with associate degrees and certificate programs in the arts, business, sciences and career-technical fields. SCC provides workforce training and community-based personal and professional development as well as cultural, recreational and entertainment opportunities. For more information, visit stchas.edu.