Tran has been a member of the club since Grade 10, and it’s definitely a highlight of his high school life.

“Before the club, I wanted to be a marine biologist,” he said. “Since I’ve been in the club, I shifted interest, recognizing the importance of technology in the world around us.

“This would allow me to develop medical devices and robotic equipment such as MRI scanning technology and things to help others,” he said, adding the competitions are “exciting and everyone’s cheering everyone on…it’s overall a really fun experience.”

He added that the Robotics club has also helped disprove the myth that engineering is just for “geeks.”

“No, it’s definitely not for geeks or nerds, it’s what drives the world,” he said.

In addition to the financial sponsorship of the teams, Siemens has provided an in-kind grant of laptops to some of the student teams. The computers have been refurbished by employee volunteers and are preloaded with the high school edition of Siemens’ Solid Edge software to assist students with the design of their robot. Solid Edge delivers advanced CAD technology used by leading companies.

Siemens volunteer mentors from a variety of disciplines will also be supporting the teams with educational talks and technical workshops. Siemens employees will also volunteer as judges at a FIRST Robotics competition.

“The students engaged with FIRST Robotics teams represent the future leaders in Canadian industry and by supporting them we help cultivate an interest and a passion in technological innovation and engineering,” said Joris Myny, senior vice-president of Digital Factory and Process Industries and Drives, Siemens Canada. “This benefits not only our future leaders, but Canadian industry, communities and the country as a whole. We’re honoured to sponsor and assist these high school robotics teams and can’t wait to see the competition results.”