McMaster University will host one of Canada’s premier science, technology and engineering competitions for high school-aged students in 2017.

More than 1,000 students, volunteers, parents and sponsors are expected to come to campus for a FIRST Robotics Canada District Competition from April 7 to 9, 2017. The district competition for high school students will pit the best young minds in a qualifying match to design and build robots to solve a problem.

This is the first time McMaster will host a FIRST Robotics competition. McMaster is among nine post-secondary institutions in Ontario to host district competitions in 2017.

The district competition is one of several in a series of successive events FIRST Robotics runs in Ontario. Teams must compete in at least two district events where they accumulate points.

The top 60 teams in Ontario will be invited to compete at the District Championship at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. The winners of that event go on to represent Ontario in a FIRST Championship Event.

“First Robotics Canada is helping kids to not only understand leading edge technologies, but also see that they can be the ones to create the next big thing,” said Mark Lawford, a professor in the Department of Computing and Software and a key organizer of the event.

“Hosting a District competition will provide an opportunity for McMaster to showcase our innovative undergraduate programs, such as mechatronics and software engineering, and world class research in areas such as automotive, manufacturing and medical devices. It’s going to be big. It’s going to be loud. And most important of all, it’s going to be a lot of fun!”

The FIRST Robotics high school competition brings together teams with the world’s best technology companies to build five-foot tall, 140 pound robots in just six weeks.

“Hamilton is rapidly becoming one of Canada’s leading centres for digital technologies,” said John Preston, Associate Dean of Research and External Relations for McMaster University’s Faculty of Engineering.

“So it’s natural that the premier organization for encouraging young people to learn science, technology, engineering and math disciplines will be coming to McMaster University.”

A registered charity, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Canada offers opportunities for students in elementary through to high school, working in teams and assisted by expert adult mentors, to build robots and to take part in tournaments which feature on-field competitions, judged awards and other forms of recognition, potentially including university and college scholarships.