Hundreds of High School Students Compete in Science Olympiad Tournament

2/9/2013 (Updated 10:59:36 PM)

BINGHAMTON --  High school students from all over the Southern Tier put their science skills to the test Saturday at Broome Community College.

Building robot arms isn't something the students normally do in school.

"I didn't know much about how to build a robot arm and i always wanted to do it ever since I was a little kid," said Jose Rios of Johnson City.

And today was their chance-- it was the Southern Tier division of the New York State Science Olympiad. Hundreds of high school students came out to compete in 24 events.

For one of the events, teams spent months creating and designing robot arms-- so that they could successfully pick up objects. 

"I learned so much how to build a good design, how it can deal with weight, with reaching far enough without tipping," said Rios.

The event was judged by professional engineers and graduate students.

"Engineers from Lockheed and BAE can say 'oh yeah, we do something similar,' and students really get to see what they learn here applied in a real sense," said Technical Event Coordinator Rob Congdon.

Overall, students say the competition inspired even more passion for engineering.

"It helps everyday life, everyone.  Because it's how we get to work, it's buildings...it involves everything,"  said Alex Hess of Deposit, NY.

The three winning teams from the day will go onto compete in the state competition at Monroe-Woodbury High School in Central Valley, New York, on March 8 and 9.

Samantha McDonald, Fox 40 HD News.