Record Number of Students and School Districts Attending Tech Wars at GCC

Middle and High School Students to Compete on March 15th

BATAVIA, NY (03/12/2018) Anyone interested in watching teams of teens and young adults embrace, engage and enjoy all the facets of new and existing technology should come to Genesee Community College for the 11th Annual Tech Wars on Thursday, March 15, 2018 at the College's Batavia Campus. More than 750 students from 23 regional school districts, an all-time record, will be competing in 30 different events all focused hands-on activities that use technology of all kinds.

The yearly event matches area middle and high school students against each other in many competitions including the Robotic Tractor Pull, Catapults and SUMO Bots in the gymnasium, the Regatta in the Aquatics Center, and Bridge Designing in the central Forum. A new event this year is Battlebot Soccer where high school students will design and build a remote control robot to compete in a soccer match.

Hosted by the College's ACE (Accelerated College Enrollment) Program for students in the GLOW (Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming Counties) region, this is the 11th consecutive year that Tech Wars brings area middle and high school students to GCC's Batavia Campus where teams of students work collaboratively to demonstrate their technical expertise through innovative, mind-expanding competitions. The students arrive on GCC's Batavia Campus at 8:30 a.m., with the competitions scheduled to run from 9:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. followed by the awards ceremony luncheon from 12:30 to 1 p.m.

Students participate in a variety of challenges, many in groups of two or more. Many of the competitions involve bringing projects they've been working on to GCC's Batavia campus, and other events are more spontaneous with materials and exact directions shared day of.

"We are very excited that Tech Wars continues to grow both in the number and interests of the students, the schools they represent, and also the creativity of the planners who continue to invent new events to challenge GLOW area students each year," Debbie Dunlevy, GCC Career Pathways Program director said. "Tech Wars is always a day of great fun alongside some serious competition."

In addition to the new Battlebot Soccer competition listed above, there are 29 other events to challenge students in an array of technologies. The 2018 Middle School events include: Catapult, CO2 Car and Truck Challenges, Logo Design, Mystery Project, Paper Airplane, Rube Goldberg, Sculpture and Tower. The 2018 High School events include: Battlebot Soccer, Bridge Design, Architectural Design in CAD, CO2 Car and Truck Challenges, King of the Hill, Logo Design, Mystery Project, On Site CAD Project, Regatta, Reverse Engineered CAD Drawing, Robotic Tractor Pull Limited and Unlimited, Sculpture Event, Skimmer Car, SUMO Bots and Trebuchet which must launch a projectile at a given target 40 feet away.

For the rules and details on all these competitions, go to http://www.techwarsgcc.org/.

The event would not be possible without significant sponsorships. The Gold Sponsors this year include: Amada Machine Tools America Inc., Graham Corporation, Liberty Pumps, Northeast Technologies, Inc. and Turnbull Heating and Air Conditioning.

"We thank all of our sponsors for their support in helping to create a successful event for all participants," Dunlevy said. "Without them, it wouldn't be possible."

The ACE Program's Career Pathways helps students explore career options and make a smooth transition from high school to college and ultimately to professional careers. Tech Wars is among several dynamic programs giving students the opportunity to learn hands-on, often in business settings and with industry professionals.

For more information, please contact Debbie Dunlevy, Genesee Community College Career Pathways program director at 585-343-0055 ext. 6316 or dkdunlevy@genesee.edu.

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Editor's Note:

For photographs from the 10th Annual Tech Wars at GCC in 2017 go to GCC's Facebook Photo album at:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/sunygcc/photos/?tab=album&album_id=10155110462863103