On Saturday, February 8, 2014, the 3rd Annual Quad Cities FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) regional qualifier will be held at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa. 24 Teams from Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin are scheduled to participate. Winning teams will be invited to participate at the State of Iowa FTC Championship being held on February 21st and 22nd in Coralville/Iowa City.
This event is free and open to the public. People of all ages will enjoy this face-paced and exciting event which will showcase 7th-12th grade students' ability to design, build and program robots, use teamwork to build alliances and cooperate with other teams, apply creative problem solving to real-world math and science concepts and earn a place in the Iowa State FTC Championship.
Opening ceremonies will begin at 11:15 A.M., qualification matches will begin at 11:45 A.M. with semi-final and final matches beginning at approximately 4:30 P.M. A more detailed schedule of events, teams competing and more information can be found at our website, www.qcesc.org.
For further information, please contact Pat Barnes at barnespatricko@johndeere.com or (563) 370-5513.
Background of FIRST® Tech Challenge:
http://www.usfirst.org/
FTC is designed for students in grades 7-12 to compete head to head, using a sports model. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and is programmed using a variety of languages. Teams, including coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as well as for community outreach, design, and other real-world accomplishments.
Students get to:
- Design, build, and program robots
- Apply real-world math and science concepts
- Develop problem-solving, organizational, and team-building skills
- Compete and cooperate in alliances and tournaments
- Qualify for over $13 million in college scholarships
- Earn a place in the World Championship
Quad City Engineering and Science Council:
The Quad City Engineering and Science Council (QCESC) is an umbrella organization representing 36 technical societies in the Quad City area with approximately 5,000 associated members. The QCESC is non-profit and is actively seeking new society members as well as additional corporate sponsors.
The QCESC is in it's 52nd year of operation and annually sponsors events such as the National Engineers Banquet, the Engineering and Scientist of The Year Awards, scholarships to local high school students, the President's Reception for local Society President's and provides judges and volunteers for the local STEM activities including FIRST LEGO League, FIRST Tech Challenge, Battle of the Bridges, QC Tech Challenge, Mousetrap Car Race, and the Kids Engineering Camp.
More information about the QCESC can be found at: www.qcesc.org
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