SUNY Poly Marcy campus to host robotics competition in March

MARCY, N.Y. — SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) will host a robotics competition this March at the campus in Marcy.

The Central New York 2018 Regional FIRST Robotics Competition will be held March 2-4 in the Wildcat Field House on the Marcy campus of SUNY Poly. The school expects the event to bring 2,500 students in grades 9 through 12 to the campus and the Utica area from around the world, including their families, mentors, and volunteers.

The event will represent the first time that the Marcy campus will host the competition.

The winning robotics team at the Central New York 2018 Regional FIRST Robotics Competition will advance to compete against the strongest FIRST teams in the world at championship events in Detroit and Houston in April.

“It is truly an honor for SUNY Polytechnic Institute to be selected to host this prestigious event on our Utica campus,” Bahgat Sammakia, interim president of SUNY Poly, said in a university news release. “We take great pride in our involvement with FIRST and are staunch advocates for the experiential learning it provides. Competitions like this not only draw thousands to their host regions, but also provide students with the ability to solve problems in innovative ways. Those new approaches drive the imagination, skills, and technology of tomorrow, and we are proud to be a part of it.”

SUNY Poly was selected as a host site based on its facilities and the institution’s team that will “execute the event.” Like other potential host venues chosen by FIRST, the organization’s event-management company visited and assessed SUNY Poly to “make sure it was a perfect fit.”

“For years,” SUNY Polytechnic Institute and the Mohawk Valley have been home to FIRST robotics teams. FIRST is short for “For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology,” SUNY Poly said.

The teams include students who travel across the state and the country, developing “critical” science and engineering skills through their involvement mentor-based robotics programs.

About the competition

Under “strict” rules, limited resources, and an “intense” six-week time limit, teams of students are challenged to raise funds, design a team brand, “hone” teamwork skills, and build and program industrial-size robots to play a difficult field game against like-minded competitors.

Teams involved get experience in “valuable life skills” such as brainstorming, creative problem solving, collaboration, teamwork, planning, time management, leadership, and a myriad of impressive technical skills.

“This is going to be an amazing event for our campus, as well as for our region,” Janice Martino, FIRST robotics program coordinator at SUNY Poly, said in the release. “These 40 teams of future engineers, mathematicians, and scientists bring with them their coaches, college mentors, and families. I am certain we will be able to show them what Central New York has to offer, from outstanding educational and employment opportunities to unparalleled food and cultural activities. They, in turn, are going to bring us a robotics competition the likes of which this area has never seen, consisting of 125 pound robots competing three versus three on a basketball court-sized field.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com