Ishika Desai

The FTC competition is held at a large venue, allowing teams to showcase the STEM skills they have learned through the whole season.

First Tech Challenge (FTC) is a robotics competition and has become one of the most interesting methods for students to pick up on science, technology, engineering and math skills. FTC is also a gateway for students to learn lots of things about being on a team, teaching students things like teamwork and creativity, which help prepare them for any endeavours they intend to pursue in the future.

At its base level, the First Tech Challenge concept is pretty simple: teams are tasked to design and build a robot and conduct outreach to develop their communication skills further. To design the robot, students are tasked with applying engineering skills to real-world applications. FTC introduces many students to concepts like coding and mechanical design for the first time, allowing them to gauge their interest in engineering before having to pick a major in college. 

Sophomore Sashwat Choudhary’s interest in engineering was first sparked when he joined FTC. “I really didn’t even know anything about STEM when I joined, but when I joined, it was a really eye-opening moment for me,” Choudhary said.

FTC also allows students to really decide if engineering is the right pathway for them in the future. Through FTC, students can also experience what different types of engineering pathways are like and make decisions about what type of engineering they most enjoy. “Once I started doing the robot design and Computer Aided Design (CAD) on my team, the Winter Soldiers, it really opened my mind up to the possibilities of mechanical engineering,” said Choudhary.

Another thing that FTC highly encourages is the concept of gracious professionalism, which inspires students to support other teams and supports inclusiveness for all members. 

Junior Shuban Nanisetty voiced his opinions on gracious professionalism and how it makes more students interested in STEM career pathways. “I really like gracious professionalism because it makes everyone feel like they belong on the team,” said Nanisetty. “I feel like gracious professionalism really develops students’ interest in STEM pathways because it makes engineering feel like a collaborative experience rather than an individual-based learning system,” said Nanisetty.

Ultimately, the First Tech Challenge blends technical engineering skills along with teamwork skills to introduce students to the realm of the STEM world and shows the students the power that STEM-related pathways possess to change the world for the better.