Robotics students ready for workplace – Marion Star

From Thursday, April 6, to Saturday, April 8, high school and middle school students from around the country gathered at Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the National Robotics Challenge. Matthew Hatcher/ The Marion Star

A competitor focuses all his attention on his match in the combat robots competition on Saturday at the National Robotics Challenge at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.(Photo: Matthew Hatcher/ The Marion Star)Buy Photo

MARION - From high school to the industrial workplace is the goal for someof the competitors at this year's National Robotics Challenge.

Tri-Rivers Career CenterRAMTEC seniors Matthew Craig, Kierstyn Graber and Tom Poorman claimed the gold medal in the pick and place high school competition. The trio was one of the teams in consideration for the Honda Innovation Award that was eventually presented to the Adventure Bots team from Portage County in eastern Ohio.

The RAMTEC studentshope theirsuccess at the NRC and the skills they've developed will catch the attention of potential employers.

"I want to get a job in the industry and work and learn more about the FANUC robots and Yasakawa robots and what else there is out there," said Graber. "Whether I go on to college or not depends on whether I get offered a job by the end of the school year. It also depends on the company. Honda and Whirlpool have their own training programs and Worthington Industries will pay for you to go to college while you're working for them."

Poorman recently attended Automate 2017 in Chicago with RAMTEC instructor Ritch Ramey. Held every two years, it's a showcase of the latest in robotics, vision, motion control, and similar technologies that draws attendees from all over the world.During the event, Poorman had the chance to network with industry leaders.

RELATED:National Robotics Challenge award winners

PREVIOUSLY:Taking care of business: Robotics talent showcased

"We were being eyeballed as high school students and I handed some resumes out," he said. "It was intimidating, but at the same time I was honored to even speak with them. They wanted to know what I was into, what I want to do, my personal interests, my goals. It was pretty amazing."

A judge watches as a combat robot match unfolds on Saturday during the National Robotics Challenge at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.(Photo: Matthew Hatcher/ The Marion Star)

Craig said the RAMTEC program allows students to pursue certification and advanced training that prepares them for the workplace.

"We've done Parker hydraulics andYasakawa (robotics) training. We'll be certified (in Yasakawa) by the end of the year," Craig said. "We have our OSHA 10 (certification). We've been trained in FANUC (robotics) tool handling. We get (progammable logic controllers) training. Some of us have training with Universal Robots and FANUC welders."

Poorman said he believes that he and his RAMTEC classmates have "a leg up" on students who don't receive career and technical training in high school.

"We've been introduced to a wide variety of concepts," he said. "What it comes down to is what we decide in the end. If we want to go and get mechanical engineering or electrical engineering (degrees), we have some of the basic classes already. If we want to pursue something else, we understand how everything is working at the moment."

Middle school students taking part in the National Robotics Challenge spend time working on their robots together. (Photo: Matthew Hatcher/ The Marion Star)

The National Robotics Challenge wrapped up Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Officials said more than 1,000 competitors and 350 robots competed in the event.

Andrew Carter is the Life In Marionreporter forThe Marion Star. Contact him at eacarter@gannett.com or 740-375-5154. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewCarterMS or Facebook @LifeInMarionOhio.

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Robotics students ready for workplace - Marion Star