Robotics league designed to encourage students interested in manufacturing careers

The National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) National Robotics League, which begins its fifth year, is a combat robotics league sponsored by local and national manufacturers with the intent of encouraging students into a manufacturing or STEM career. (What are you doing for Robotics Week?)

By National Tooling & Machining Association April 11, 2014

Students across the country are busy building robots designed for destruction in preparation for a fight to the end against rival robots as part of the National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA) National Robotics League.

The NRL is a combat robotics league where students team up with local NTMA member companies to design and build remote controlled robots to face-off in competition. NRL is the only league formalizing ties between competitor teams and manufacturing partners. The five-year-old league is intended to encourage students interested in a potential manufacturing career.

The 2014 NRL season includes 14 regional programs in nine states – Arizona, California, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin. Teams that participate in these sanctioned regional competitions can then participate in the 2014 NRL Championships that will take place on May 16-17, 2014 at the Lou Higgins Center on the campus of Baldwin Wallace University in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Manufacturers are working to change the perception of our sector," said NRL Commissioner Steve Tamasi, who is also CEO of Boston Centerless in Woburn, MA. "NRL, with its challenge of building combat-ready robots and the flying sparks of competition, helps students uncover the world of modern manufacturing, a sector that offers great careers with well-paying jobs that require high tech skills. In the past several years, students who competed in the NRL now work for manufacturers in scientific and technical roles."

"Regional programs are the heart of the NRL," said NRL Program Director Maureen Carruthers. "It is at the regional level that the NRL has its maximum impact, connecting students directly with manufacturing partners who not only help the students build their robots, but also guide them in gaining practical knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and introduce them to the many career possibilities available in the manufacturing sector."

NRL Regional competition locations are:

  • Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona Tooling & Machining Association
  • Santa Fe Springs, California: NTMA Training Centers Robotics League
  • Tampa, Florida: NRL of Southern Florida
  • Boston, Massachusetts: Rally in the Valley
  • Minneapolis, Minnesota: Midwest Robotics League
  • Akron, Ohio: Akron NRL
  • Mentor, Ohio: AWT RoboBots
  • Dayton, Ohio: Xtreme BOTS
  • Bloomberg, Pennsylvania: Rage in the Cage
  • Meadville, Pennsylvania: RoboBOTS
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: BotsIQ Southwest Pennsylvania
  • Ogden, Utah: Northern Utah NRL
  • Milwaukee, WI: Bots IQ Wisconsin

Learn more about these competitions here.

National Tooling & Machining Association (NTMA)

National Tooling & Machining Association – NTMA, National Tooling and Machining Association, Manufacturing 

– Edited by CFE Media. See more Control Engineering robotics stories.

What are you doing for National Robotics Week? Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry is celebrating National Robotics Week with a Robot Block Party.

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