At the event, teams of students from 14 Québec high schools received kits of mechanical parts. Their task? To build a functional robot weighing 120 pounds and able to practise a sport -- all of it in a scant six weeks. To meet the challenge, the teens will team up with mentors and engineers from various Québec universities and firms.

The university students involved in the project will co-ordinate the robotics program and guide the teens through the design process, from mechanics to electronics to programming. From Polytechnique Montréal, Henriette Diémé, Vincent Chartrand, Abdelkrim Aissiou and Slimane Bouakiz will respectively support the teams at École Honoré-Mercier, École Pierre-Dupuy, École Louis-Joseph-Papineau, and École Pierre-Dupuy. Two Youth Fusion co-ordinators -- Omar Hanchour and Mira Thoumy, respectively assigned to École Lucien-Pagé and École Saint-Henri -- are also Poly students.

The 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition will involve over 2,000 teams from eight countries in competitions across Canada and the United States. The event gives professionals and university students a chance to share their knowledge and passion with high school students and inspire them to continue their education. FIRST (which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) rewards students for design excellence, team spirit, selfless professionalism, maturity and ability to cope with challenges.

Youth Fusion is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that establishes partnerships between high schools and universities in an effort to counter high school dropout rates by creating and implementing projects that motivate youth and keep them interested in school.

To find out more about Youth Fusion and its numerous ongoing projects: www.youthfusionquebec.org/en/

To find out more about the 2011 FIRST competition: www.robotiquefirstquebec.org/les-participants/les-ecoles/les-coordonateurs/