On Feb. 3, 27 groups of high school and middle school students competed in the Miami University FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) robotics qualifier tournament. Volunteers from Miami University’s College of Engineering and Computing – including faculty, staff, and student organizations – helped keep the complex robotics competition running smoothly.

The competition may have been complex, but the competitors were up to the challenge. Each team faced a number of technical challenges as part of the competition, including stacking hexagons, autonomous driving, and maneuvering around obstacles. In addition to the technical aspects of the competition, teams were also assessed on design, teamwork, displays of innovative thinking, and other criteria.

A short list of award winners from the Miami University qualifying tournament is below. For a full list, click here.

Inspire Award 

Awarded to: Quantum Leap (Team #8719)

About this award: The Inspire Award is presented to the team that the judges felt truly embodied the 'challenge' of the FIRST Tech Challenge program. The team that receives this award is a strong ambassador for FIRST programs and works to promote FIRST and make it loud in their community.

Think Award

Awarded to: The NUTS! (Team #6133)

About this award: The Think Award is given to the team that the judges feel best reflects the journey of the engineering design process. The engineering portfolio is the key reference for judges to help them identify the most deserving team.

Connect Award

Awarded to: Summit Knights (Team #14365)

About this award: The Connect Award is given to the team that the judges feel most connected with their local Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) community.

Innovate Awards sponsored by RTX

Awarded to: Mirage (Team #20715)

About this award: The Innovate Award sponsored by RTX celebrates a team that has the ingenuity and inventiveness to make their design come to life. This award is given to the team that the judges feel has the most innovative and creative robot design solution to the FIRST Tech Challenge game.

Control Award

Awarded to: Higgs Bosons (Team #7136)

About this award: The Control Award celebrates the team that demonstrates innovative thinking in the control system to solve game challenges such as autonomous operation, enhancing mechanical systems with intelligent control, or using sensors to achieve better results in the field.

Motivate Award

Awarded to: FLRC - Circuit Breakers (Team #14279)

About this award: The Motivate Award celebrates the culture of FIRST and clearly shows what it means to be a team. This award celebrates the team that represents the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through team building, team spirit, and displayed enthusiasm.

Design Award

Awarded to: Innovators Robotics (Team #3311)

About this award: The Design Award expands on this year's challenge, inspiring teams to incorporate industrial design into their robots. These elements can be shown in the simplicity of the design as it applies to these tasks, the look and feel of the robot in how the design allows us to think of robots in new ways. The design aspect must serve a function − but should also differentiate the robot in a unique fashion.

Promote Award

Awarded to: DRSS Enterprise (Team 4537)

About this award: The Promote Award is given to the team that is most successful in creating a compelling message for the public and working to change our culture and celebrate science, technology, engineering and math. A video submission was evaluated by the judges to determine the winner of this award.

Compass Award

Awarded to Charles Alig from We Will Bot You (Team #12802)

About this award: The Compass Award recognizes an adult coach or mentor who provided outstanding guidance and support for a FIRST Tech Challenge team throughout the year. The winner of the Compass Award is determined from candidates nominated by student team members via a 40-60 second video.

Judges' Choice Award

Awarded to: Sycamore JH Pixelbots (Team #16749)

About this award: The Judges' Choice Award is given at the discretion of the judges to teams they have encountered whose unique efforts, performance or dynamics merit recognition, yet the team does not fit into any of the existing award categories.

In addition to our Miami University faculty, staff, and student volunteers, we would like to thank the following individuals and companies who sponsored our event and/or volunteered: Altafiber, Ariel, K.K. Tool Co., Riverside Research, Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and Michael and Diane Gooden.

Thanks also to season sponsor Qualcomm, and CENTERSTAGE Sponsor RTX.

For more information on FIRST Tech and upcoming tournaments, please click here.

For more photos and videos from this year's competition, check out the Miami CEC Instagram page.