Feb. 11—GRAND FORKS — The UND Memorial Union was packed with voices and the whirring and clanking of robots Saturday, Feb. 3, as 55 teams from across North Dakota and Minnesota put their engineering skills to the test.
Andrew Dahlen, a mechanical engineering professor at UND who focuses on STEM outreach for the university, kicked off the event at 10 a.m.
“Welcome to the University of North Dakota,” he said, dressed in the university’s signature green. “Have a fantastic tournament today.”
UND hosted the 2023-2024 VEX Robotics Challenge, Over Under, a regional tournament starring both middle school and high school teams on Saturday. Teams competed by having their robots perform specific tasks, like hanging onto small bars and moving balls into goals. Robots were both tested on their own autonomous abilities, and how they worked when a team member controlled them via remote.
The tournament was organized through the work of the university’s own collegiate VEX teams and the UND College of Engineering and Mines. Dahlen has planned around 100 of these tournaments and said it’s one of the biggest to be held in the region.
Two engineering students form UND, Thea Haaven-Farstad and Carter Malone, were both at the competition to help referee. Both of them graduated from East Grand Forks Public Schools, where they had begun their robotics journeys, and now act as robotics coaches themselves.
“It was one of the programs that was kind of under the radar for a little while,” Malone said. “Somebody suggested that we do it and we fell in love with it ever since.”
Haaven-Farstad, a member of the Society of Women Engineers at UND, is also excited to get more girls involved in robotics and engineering.
“I have a couple girls on our middle school teams, and I’ve been able to tell them all these cool things,” she said. “And I have girls come up to me sometimes and ask me questions on engineering and how they feel like a pro team.”
Dahlen hopes events like these held by the university get more young people interested in STEM and careers in science and engineering, especially with a shortage of engineering professionals locally and nationally.
“This is a big outreach and recruitment investment,” he said. “Students are so invested and excited about what they’re doing.”
Amanda Smith is a dedicated U.S. correspondent with a passion for uncovering the stories that shape the nation. With a background in political science, she provides in-depth analysis and insightful commentary on domestic affairs, ensuring readers are well-informed about the latest developments across the United States.
