Burckhardt Compression Backs Canadian Robotics Team at World Championships
The FIRST Robotics competition is a global program that brings together students, parents, teachers, mentors and experts in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Widely recognized as a great source of young engineering talent, many high-profile companies sponsor the event and use it to attract new employees. Burckhardt Compression has been supporting the 5409 Chargers team from Oakville, Canada since 2017 and this year they qualified for the world championships in Houston, TX.
Each year, organizers of the competition release the rules in January and all the teams have just four months to design, build and test a robot capable of completing the latest challenge. This year it involved picking up road cones and inflatable cubes, placing them in a specific order, and crossing a balance bridge to gain points. Winners of regional qualifying rounds earned a place in the world championships, which saw 619 teams compete in Houston.

Multi-skilled, collaborative teams
From the start of each competition, the students are responsible for running the entire entry from design concept to a fully tested robot that can complete the objectives. Like a real operating business, each team is comprised of sub teams CAD designers, manufacturing fabricators, welders, electrical specialists, software programmers and business development marketing.
Craig Bowern, director of technical solutions North America, for Burckhardt Compression, has been involved with the FIRST Robotics program for the past six years, working with a local team in Canada that competes in the high school group. “The head teacher and I completed our apprenticeships together in the automotive industry before taking different career paths, and now we have come full circle and I am able to support his school team.”