Vermont's Independent Voice
Browse News
Browse Arts + Culture
Browse Food + Drink
Browse Cannabis
Browse Music
Browse On Screen
Browse Events
Browse Classifieds
Browse Personals
Published February 26, 2013 at 10:32 p.m.
On Saturday, hundreds of techie teens converged on the University of Vermont’s Dudley H. Davis Center for the FIRST Vermont Tech Challenge, a daylong high school robotics competition.
Think science fair on steroids.
FIRST is a New Hampshire-based nonprofit founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen; the acronym stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It aims to endear kids to engineering and other scientific pursuits, mainly though competitions that are as exciting as they are educational.
FIRST-affiliated tournaments have been going on for years all across the county, but the movement is just booting up in Vermont; UVM’s competition was the first of its kind in the state. It drew 28 teams from the Northeast and beyond — including four from Cranbrook-Kingswood Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. — all vying for two berths in the FIRST World Championships in St. Louis in April. That tournament takes place in the Edward James Dome, where the St. Louis Rams play, in front of 100,000 fans.
UVM's 'bot battle was a smaller affair, but thrilling all the same — especially for STEM-education advocates. I spent the day there and came up with this list of things to love about it:
More By This Author
About The Author
Cathy Resmer
Bio:
Deputy publisher Cathy Resmer is an organizer of the Vermont Tech Jam. She also oversees Seven Days' parenting publication, Kids VT, and created the Good Citizen Challenge, a youth civics initiative. Resmer began her career at Seven Days as a freelance writer in 2001. Hired as a staff writer in 2005, she became the publication's first online editor in 2007.
Deputy publisher Cathy Resmer is an organizer of the Vermont Tech Jam. She also oversees Seven Days' parenting publication, Kids VT, and created the Good Citizen Challenge, a youth civics initiative. Resmer began her career at Seven Days as a freelance writer in 2001. Hired as a staff writer in 2005, she became the publication's first online editor in 2007.
Comments
Comments are closed.
From 2014-2020, Seven Days allowed readers to comment on all stories posted on our website. While we've appreciated the suggestions and insights, right now Seven Days is prioritizing our core mission — producing high-quality, responsible local journalism — over moderating online debates between readers.
To criticize, correct or praise our reporting, please send us a letter to the editor or send us a tip. We’ll check it out and report the results.
Online comments may return when we have better tech tools for managing them. Thanks for reading.
