Sparks flew literally as students from 33 different schools came together for some fierce competition and metal crunching at the 2014 National Robotics League (NRL) Championships, held at the Lou Higgins Center at Baldwin Wallace University in Cleveland, OH May 16-17.
After two days of competition, "Final Cut" from North High School in North St. Paul, MN was crowned NRL's Grand Champion.The competition was sponsored by the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA).NRL Program Director Maureen Carruthers boasted that the students had a great time at the competition and were introduced to the world of manufacturing in the 21st century."Everyone who participated in the NRL Championships is a winner," he added. He also said tha NTMA member companies formed valuable partnerships with community colleges and high schools, which is extremely important becasue manufacturing has many sophisticated, high-skilled jobs which go unfilled because of a lack of sufficiently trained candidates. NRL exposes thousands of students each year to the new world of manufacturing. "We’re helping to attract a new generation of technology leaders, one robot at a time," Carruthers said.Other robot award winners included:
- 1st Place: FINAL CUT - North High School, North St. Paul, MN
- 2nd Place: K.A.R.A. - Hempfield Area High School, Greensburg, PA
- 3rd Place: STRYX - Greater Latrobe Senior High School, Greensburg, PA
- Coolest Bot: SHIFFU - Upper Valley Career Center, Piqua, OH
- Best Documentation (three-way tie): THUNDERBOLT - Beaumont School, Cleveland Heights, OH; ALEXANDER THE GREAT - Beaumont School, Cleveland Heights, OH; SIMPLY GREEN - Ringgold High School, Monongahela, PA
- Best Engineered (three-way tie): ALEXANDER THE GREAT - Beaumont School, Cleveland Heights, OH; BLACK WIDOW - Penncrest School District, Saegertown, PA; EARTH SHAKER - Cochranton High School, Cochranton, PA
- Best Team Presentation (three-way tie): THE X-FACTOR - Cleveland Heights High School, Cleveland Heights, OH; THUNDERBOLT - Beaumont High School, Cleveland Heights, OH; THE STREAKER - Madison High School, Madison, OH
Created by NTMA, the NRL is designed to help introduce a new generation of students to the advanced skills and technology of today’s manufacturing.
In addition to NTMA, NRL sponsors include National Tooling & Machining Foundation, DEPCO LLC, Grainger, Royal Products, Voss, Boston Centerless, Akron NTMA Chapter, Sandvik Coromant, PartnerShip, GF Machining Solutions, Mosey Production Machinists, Latrobe, LLC, Homeyer Precision Manufacturing, Big Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc., PiMios, and the Northwest PA NTMA Chapter.
For more information about the National Robotics League, including ways to get involved as a volunteer or sponsor, contact Maureen Carruthers at [email protected].
