If anyone wants to know what STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education is about, David Moeller, CEO of the Northwest Georgia College and Career Academy, said the Georgia FIRST Robotics competition is the place to find out.

"This is where students put theory to practice," he said. "This is where the rubber hits the road."

The 2017 FIRST District Qualifier is Friday and Saturday at the Dalton Convention Center. The event is free and open to the public. FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.

During a robotics competition team members are challenged to design, build and program industrial-sized robots to compete against other robots. Teams compete in two events to determine if they qualify for the district championship.

About 40 teams from Georgia will compete to qualify for the district championship next month in Athens. Among them are The Mountaineers, a rookie team from North Murray High School.

Moeller said he's excited to see another team from the area competing. The Career Blazers Fighting Mongooses, out of the Career Academy, is the other team.

"I think it's great," Moeller said. "The more teams we can get to spring up in this region, the better."

Kevin Henry and James Rowlenson, both North Murray teachers, sponsor the 15-member Mountaineers team. Rowlenson said after watching last year's competition at the convetion center the team was motivated to prepare for qualifiers.

"They saw what was going on and really started working on getting ready," Rowlenson said.

Moeller's team met The Mountaineers last weekend at the Peachtree Regional in Gainesville.

"They did really well as a rookie team," Moeller said.

Rowlenson said he's looking forward to his team "being successful."

"We learned a lot about how the game is conducted and different things about the challenge," he said of regionals. "We're going take all the lessons and apply them this week."

Moeller said it's going to be an exciting time.

"Northwest Georgia is a manufacturing community and the whole industry is based on STEM education," Moeller said. "The fact that we're helping other teams is fantastic."

The Career Blazers will also return to the area competition. The team has doubled in size to 24 compared to last year.

"This is only our second year," he said. "Were still learning but they're doing well."

The team competed in the regional last weekend and won a team spirit award. Last year the team won the All-Star Rookie competition at the FIRST Robotics state championship in Athens and competed in the World FIRST Robotics Championship in St. Louis, Mo.

Moeller said this week's qualifier is a time for students to put what they learned into action.

"It's great when the teams can actually read about something and work with their hands to make it happen," Moeller said. "It just reinforces everything."

If you go

Friday

Opening ceremonies: 10:30 to 11 a.m.

Qualification matches: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 to 7 p.m.

Saturday

Opening ceremonies: 9 to 9:30 a.m

Qualification matches: 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Alliance selections: 12:30 to 1 p.m.

Final rounds: 2 to 5 p.m.

Awards ceremony: 5 to 6:30 p.m.

All events are at the Dalton Convention Center and are free and open to the public.

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Dalton to host robotics district qualifier this weekend - The Daily Citizen