Imagine combining bioengineering, military drones and Sumo wrestling. This is exactly what over 500 middle and high school students from Riverside and San Bernardino counties will do at the Bourns College of Engineering on Saturday.
The Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement School Programs will host the third annual MESA Robotics Invitational at the Bourns College of Engineering from 8 am to 2 pm. The event will showcase the end of months of work of the students to accomplish set tasks.
Director of MESA School Programs Carlos Gonzalez said that these innovative and hands-on experiences truly inspire students to pursue a higher education, especially in science, technology, math and engineering.
The event will include three challenges. In the First LEGO Challenge robots built by students out of LEGO bricks will simulate medical and bioengineering challenges. The robots will operate based on computer programs written by the children. No remotes will be allowed.
The second challenge will be for middle school students will use LEGO built robots in sumo tasks and fights between robots. The third challenge for high school students will include the use of metallic robots built to replicate military drones. They will run through a course and destroy target balloons not to mention engage in combat with other robots.