By Keith Gushard
Meadville Tribune
“Get him! Push him! Hold him!” teammates yelled as Chris Monkern feverishly worked the controller.
Monkern, the driver for the VTC-PM team, maneuvered the robot Anubus to smash and hold Mars, a robot from Cambridge Springs High School’s Team PHEAR, during the finals of the third annual Robobots competition Saturday in Meadville.
Monkern and his VTC-PM teammates from the Venango Technology Center in Oil City came out the winners in the daylong tournament held at Meadville Area Senior High School.
“It was tough to do,” said Monkern, a junior at the school. “They were very fast, but we had a little more torque and were able to push them.”
Robobots, coordinated by the northwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association, is a hands-on robot building initiative. Designed to spark high school student interest in technical careers, 28 teams from 14 schools in the region built 15-pound robots to do battle in an arena.
Students are exposed to the practical applications of math, science, engineering and manufacturing skills while building the robots.
“It’s the best experience I’ve ever had,” said Brittany Clouner, a senior on VTC-PM. “It was a lot of fun.”
Asked what she liked best about it, both Clouner and fellow female teammate Heaven Hebets said changing people’s perceptions about women in technical fields like engineering.
“People thinking that girls can’t do it,” they said in unison.
Hebets, also a senior, said she plans to study electrical engineering this fall at the Pittsburgh Technical Institute.
“It was a lot of fun for the kids,” said Tim Lyons, an instructor at VTC and the team’s primary adviser. “It was a wonderful day.”
Saturday’s competition attracted more than 1,300 spectators to MASH, impressing many of those in the crowd.
“We thought we’d come down and see what’s going on,” said Amy Fuller, who was with her daughter, Samantha, 9. “I’m amazed at all the robots and the amount of work the kids put into it.”
“It’s really cool,” said Samantha. “I like to see the sparks (fly).”
Brian Deane, who coordinated the event for the northwestern Pennsylvania chapter of the NTMA, was pleased with the event and the size of the crowd.
“We had drama in the matches,” he said. “It’s as good as expected.”
The NTMA has been using the Robobots program to build interest among high school students in technical and manufacturing careers because of a potential shortage of workers.
Manufacturers both here and nationally say an aging work force will be retiring over the next 10 years and they’ll need mechanical and electrical engineers, computer engineers, machinists, tool and die makers, electricians and welders.
The local NTMA chapter estimates as many as 250 workers are going to be needed in the area annually for the next few years. That’s because of the need to replace current workers who will be retiring while also expanding their businesses and integrating new technology into their firms.
Nationwide, the National Tooling and Machining Association estimates a current need for about 35,000 skilled workers.
Manufacturing is important to Crawford County since there is a heavier reliance on it here than in other parts of Pennsylvania and the country. About 20 percent of the jobs in the county are related to manufacturing, compared to 12 percent for the state and 11 percent nationally.
Many of the area’s tooling and machining shops are suppliers of tools, equipment and parts to major manufacturers.
Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.
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