By Joe Cox
Staff Writer

A cheering crowd, packed to the rafters at Memorial High School gymnasium, is revved up for more action as the announcer bellows the latest results that flash on the scoreboard.

Hundreds of students from two states scurry up and down the hallways to get ready for the next round of competition.

Pounding rhythms of harddriving rock music create the atmosphere and excitement you'd expect at a professional wrestling event.

But these young people are not competing in any type of athletic event. They come ready to rumble in the longest-running postseason robotics challenge, River Rage 9.

Six student-made robots compete in one of many rounds of action at Memorial High School in Manchester as part of River Rage, the ninth annual FIRST robotics competition regional event. Points were scored in a three-dimensional game of tic tac toe. Teams from West, Central, Memorial, Pembroke Academy and Trinity all played. (Joe Cox Photo)

Central High School, in alliance with two other teams, won the annual event Saturday, Oct. 29. Their opponent, an alliance of Trinity High, Merrimack High and Pembroke Academy, was their final foe. Memorial High's robot won the best costume award, which was added for the Halloween weekend.

"The game is like three-dimensional tic tac toe," said organizer Ed Forcier as the action got underway that morning.

Each school fields one robot built by a team of students who learn a range of skills in the process.

"The secret of building a successful team is not to assemble the largest team possible but rather to assemble a team that can work well together," said Dean Kamen, founder of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), at the organization's Web site.

FIRST is a nonprofit, multinational organization that works to make "science, math, engineering, and technology as cool for kids as sports are today." Kamen is also the Manchester based inventor of the Segway Human Transporter.

Three teams work as an alliance in each round competing against three other teams. Each year the challenge is different; in 2005 the robots pick up pyramid- framed objects and stack them on goals shaped to accept the tetrahedrons.

Each team gets points carried from round to round as alliances shift; allies can later become foes and vice versa. The experience presents interpersonal and strategic challenges that students are likely to encounter in the working world.

"I think it's great that we get to experiment with technology and work with our hands and learn from that," said P.J. Guill of Bedford, 17, a West High School senior. "In the classroom you really can't do that, it's textbook knowledge."

Teammate and Bedford resident Matt Brann, 17, also a senior at West, called the robotics competition experience "an excellent resource for learning about engineering and science, and also other things like leadership and public speaking."

All the robotics competitors talk about plans for higher education. Brann is hoping to be accepted at M.I.T., Carnegie Mellon or the University of Pennsylvania to study mechanical engineering. Guill is applying to Syracuse University, University of New York and Boston College to prepare for a career in architecture and communications.

Founders of the robotics competition stress a tone of gracious professionalism.

"We learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process," according to FIRST national advisor Dr. Woodie Flowers, a professor at M.I.T. "We try to avoid leaving anyone feeling like they are losers."

The local event was presented by Memorial, Central, West and Trinity high schools in Manchester.

Students from nearly two dozen other high schools in the state and from Massachusetts were also competing for performance and appearance.

V.J. Nahikian and Brian Smith, both Trinity High seniors from Hooksett, are longtime friends who joined the robotics team together four years ago.

"It's good because it's in our own backyard," Nahikian said about River Rage 9. Smith would like to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute or UNH next fall.

A new game kicks off on Jan. 7. That's when teams find out what the new game will be. The BAE Regional Robotics Competition will be March 2-3 at the Verizon Wireless Arena. The national championships are set for April 27-29 in Atlanta.

The FIRST Robotics Competition tries to bring together colleges, sponsors and technical professionals to help high school students find solutions to particular engineering challenges. It's designed to be a career-molding and, at times, a life-changing experience for young people. The game environment adds to the fun.

For some young people, there's nothing like the thrill of victory.

"We actually won the WPI competition back in June," said Kyle Lampert, 17, of Hopkinton High School in Massachusetts. "It was our first victory. It was great!"

For more information, visit usfirst.org.