South Western PA Bots IQ Kick-Off

On September 16th the Central Valley Bots IQ team opened their 2026-27 season by attending the South Western PA Bots IQ kick off meeting and teacher professional development day. Students attended sessions throughout the day pertaining to various competition specific topics, such as “building a 3 pound, beetle weight robot”, “Advanced controller use” and “Finite Element Analysis - FEA”. Mr. Fiedler taught a session on “Powering your robot” to a crowd after lunch. The 2026-27 season is Central Valley’s 20th year! Our team is proudly partnered with Schroeder Industries, a leader in manufacturing, located in Leetsdale. This year we also received a grant from the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission as a part of the EDA Build Back Better Grant. 

BotsIQ is a manufacturing workforce program of the Pittsburgh Chapter National Tooling & Machining Foundation whose goal is to provide a pathway for high school students to explore related STEM careers in manufacturing and engineering.  This is accomplished by inviting students to compete in a high school robotics tournament that is both engaging and hands-on. Students learn about the fast growing industry of manufacturing which includes job training and internship opportunities. This program helps individuals to gain technical skills like CAD, soldering and electronics, and machining, as well as a way to develop real-life skills such as teamwork, project planning, and problem-solving.Through its main youth program, Southwestern Pennsylvania BotsIQ, the Pittsburgh Chapter National Tooling & Machining Foundation has exposed manufacturing careers to high school students across southwestern Pennsylvania for 22 years (BotsIQ). This combat robotics program has provided over 10,000 high school students with exciting, hands-on STEM learning as they design, build, and compete with their 15-pound robotic creations, all while developing the technical knowledge and skills required for rewarding advanced manufacturing and STEM career opportunities. More information can be found at www.botsiqpa.org and career information at www.ncsquared.com

Come join us and watch sparks fly at the Bots IQ finals held at Penn West California Campus on April 9 - 10, 2027.