NASA Glenn Champions FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional

NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland supported the 26th annual FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional, April 3-6, at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center. This international engineering design challenge combines the excitement of sports with the rigors of STEM. NASA Glenn Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon helped kick off this year’s event by addressing the student […]

May 14, 2025 - 13:40

NASA Glenn Champions FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional

Standing in the work area where robots are adjusted for competition, NASA Glenn’s center director and a FIRST Robotics participant casually discuss robotics and the competition.

NASA Glenn Research Center’s Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, left, talks with a Youth Tech Academy Red Dragon participant at the FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional in Cleveland on Friday, April 4, 2025.

Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna

NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland supported the 26th annual FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional, April 3-6, at Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center. This international engineering design challenge combines the excitement of sports with the rigors of STEM.

Four team members stand inside a small work area and gather around a robot as they adjust its parts prior to the game. Shelves of toolboxes and logos of company supporters surround them on two sides.

Mavericks Team participants adjust their robot prior to their turn to compete at the FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional in Cleveland on Friday, April 4, 2025.

Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna

NASA Glenn Center Director Dr. Jimmy Kenyon helped kick off this year’s event by addressing the student participants. He shared that NASA Glenn specializes in propulsion and communications, that the center is vital to the region and country, and that “the road to Moon and Mars goes through Ohio” thanks to the center’s contributions to the agency’s missions. He also highlighted several aerospace projects underway at the center and explained how engineering and math skills used in robotics apply to real-life engineering challenges.

Fifty-six teams of high school students competed in the robotics competition, which aims to inspire young people to be STEM leaders and innovators by engaging them in mentor-based engineering.

vThree team members excitedly stare through plexiglass that surrounds an arena. They lean in and cheer on their robot inside the arena. Numerous wires and electrical boxes sit on a short shelf in front of them.

Members from the Argonauts Team cheer as their robot competes in the FIRST Robotics Competition Buckeye Regional at Cleveland State University in Cleveland on Friday, April 4, 2025.

Credit: NASA/Sara Lowthian-Hanna

NASA Glenn employees offered their time and expertise as mentors, machinists, or volunteers supporting FIRST Robotics teams leading up to the event as well as on competition day.