A team of 19 eager young engineers from Donnie Bickham Middle School won first place at the 2023 NSU Robotics Competition and Smart Structures Show held Wednesday, November 20 on the Northwestern State University campus.
The team is under the direction of veteran educator Billy Cloutet.
The competition, in its 9th year of promoting fun and learning, is sponsored by NSU’s Department of Engineering Technology.
The event is designed for junior high aged students and consists of a series of challenges for the teams’ robots in speed, accuracy, strength, and maze running.
Each team’s robot is built and programmed by the young people on the team and may not be touched after starting an event.
The competition featured teams from Caddo, DeSoto, and Natchitoches parishes. Representatives from the Louisiana School for Math, Science, and the Arts were on hand to assist the judges and spread the word about opportunities afforded by the school.
The annual NSU Robotics Competition and Smart Structures Show is more than a competition.
It is also a superb opportunity to develop student skills in teamwork, problem solving and much more.
NSU’s Department of Engineering Technology in organizes and hosts this event.
They clearly love their area of study, and their enthusiasm is obvious – and contagious.
The department encourages the participants in the show to keep working and keep learning.