A team of Pittsburgh-area students placed first overall at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship, held April 28 in Detroit, Mich.

Members of the “The Giant Diencephalic BrainSTEM Robotics Team,” including Mars Area High School senior Caleb Isaac and sophomore Adrian Zugehar, competed against 128 international teams. In addition, the team’s robot was a Top 3 finalist in the Design Award competition and set world records for speed and efficiency earlier in the season.

This year’s competition, a “Relic Recovery” game challenge, asked teams to design a 18-by-18-inch robot that could balance on a “stone;” place “glyphs” in “cypher” patterns in a cryptobox; read a “key” from an image in autonomous programming mode; and place “relics” in a recovery zone, all within a 2.5-minute time limit. Team members custom designed and manufactured parts using CAD software, a 3-D printer, and a laser cutting machine.

Also of note, the BrainSTEM team recently brought together local robotics-related companies to help provide a 3-D printer for a developing maker space at UPMC Children’s Hospital Child Life Program to support children facing extended hospital stays. Team members also engage in outreach to other area FIRST teams and others to educate and encourage support for FIRST programs and STEM Education.

For more information, visit www.firstinspires.org.