Feb. 21 Registration Deadline Looms for 2010 GEAR Robotics Competition
Teams of students between grades three through eight living in the greater San Antonio region have until February 21 to recruit their adult volunteers and register for the 2010 South Texas GEAR (Getting Excited About Robotics) Robotics Competition, scheduled for March 27 at The University of Texas at San Antonio’s Convocation Center.
Nearly 50 teams competed in the 2009 South Texas GEAR Competition. Due to the popularity of the 2009 competition, however, the 2010 competition has been expanded to host a maximum of 125 teams. To date, only 10 spots are available for teams that have yet to register.
GEAR is an annual robotics competition for upper elementary and middle school students who are interested in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This year’s competition is organized by UTSA’s Interactive Technology and Experience Center (iTEC), a community outreach center housed in UTSA’s College of Engineering.
Teams participating in this year’s competition may represent a school or civic organization and should register online at http://itec.utsa.edu. To compete, all registered teams will be required to attend a mandatory kick-off meeting on Feb. 21 in the University Center Ballroom on UTSA’s Main Campus. At that meeting, iTEC will reveal the task of this year’s challenge. Other pertinent competition rules and details will also be discussed.
ITEC started in 2007 as a four-year project with funding from the AT&T Foundation with a mission to inspire youth by creating an environment where they can understand how engineering, science and technology shape our lives and the future of the world. Focus areas include robotics, telecommunications, scanning electron microscope applications and design for manufacturing.
To learn more about the 2010 GEAR Robotics Competition, visit iTEC’s Web site at http://itec.utsa.edu or contact Moses Thompson or Mary Stowers at itec@utsa.edu.
