Groups of high schoolers from six states convened in Penn College’s College Avenue Labs on Feb. 5 for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge North Central Pennsylvania Regional Qualifier, which tested the students’ engineering know-how in a robot-against-robot competition stadium. The robots completed such obstaclesas retrieving and depositing batons and balancing on teeter-totters. More than a dozen Penn College faculty, along with students and alumni, volunteered as judges, referees, and in other roles for the event.