Bryan, College Station, Katy students face off in robotics competition
BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Students from Bryan, College Station and Katy put their STEM skills to the test Friday morning at the Universal Skills Regional Robotics Competition.
Teams of students spent the morning programming robots to complete a series of tasks, like scanning different materials and stacking blocks.
Half of the participants were girls, John Gerzik, who teaches the practicum STEM and manufacturing class, said one of their goals is to encourage more girls to participate in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).
Paige Cerney, a junior at A&M Consolidated High School; and Kyle Kurtz, a senior at College Station High School; came out on top.
They successfully finished the challenge with the fastest time, coming in under 90 seconds.
Kurtz plans to study engineering at Texas A&M University this fall. Gerzik said opportunities like this are essential in getting students ready for their next steps.
”We get students that have book smarts all day, but they don’t know the practical understanding of how to get something to work. And so that’s what we do here, we teach them practical applications of either robotics or manufacturing,” he said.
Both Cerney and Kurtz say they’re proud of what they accomplished today through their hard work and collaboration.
