Nearly 50 teams participated in last weekend’s robotics tournament hosted and supported by the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, and the sequel will take place this Saturday.

Robot competition

Action under way at last Saturday’s VEX Robotics competition.

“Robotics competitions like these are a great way to pique a student’s interest in science and technology,” said Dr. Mark W. Spong, dean of the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at UT Dallas and holder of the Lars Magnus Ericsson Chair in Electrical Engineering. “They give students hands-on experience working on the same kinds of issues that professional engineers address every day.”

About 200 students from the Houston, Austin and Dallas areas participated in a total of 60 rounds of competition last week, and nine teams qualified for the VEX Robotics World Championship in April 2011 in Florida.

Next up is the North Texas FIRST Lego League robotics qualifying round competition this Saturday, Dec. 11, for students ages 10 to 14. More than 30 teams are expected.

The top teams coming out of this week’s contest will qualify for the league’s North Texas regional tournament in January. This Saturday’s competition will be from 9:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the UT Dallas Activity Center gym. Details are available on the UT Dallas Comet Calendar.