Teams of young engineers gather at RIT for robotics competition

HENRIETTA, N.Y. – Young engineers from all around the north eastern United States and Canada came to Rochester to compete in the first robotics finger lakes regional competition.

There’s a different challenge for the competitors every year. This year, each team had to build a robot capable of picking up and stacking purple cubes and yellow traffic cones. The teams also had to balance three robots on a tilting platform.

“It’s been really important for me to keep the Greece Gladiators alive because they’re actually what produced me,” says Greece Gladiators Robotics coach, Maressa Ranalletti. “And I went on to become a technology education teacher because of what first actually brought to me.”

“I didn’t even know that I would be into electrical before I joined,” says Greece Athena Student, Leora Blum. “But now I’m looking forward to doing something like that in the future.”

More than 55 teams and more than 1,000 students, teachers, and mentors were there competing and cheering on their teammates.