Thanks for robot event coverage

Thank you for covering the First Tech Challenge Competition that was held Saturday at the Student Recreation Center at Southeast Missouri State University.

The participating students, staff and volunteers have devoted many hours outside of school to design and build the robots used in the tournament. These machines are designed to pick up, carry and shoot balls at multiple targets. Many factors weigh in during development.

Anyone stopping by the competition would be amazed, watching the young men and women perform that final check and fretting over the gears, motors and programming while looking at the competition. You would understand why the numerous hours put in by the volunteers are more than worth it.

A big thank you goes to the staff at the WIRED Initiative for the hours put in along with the needed capital to get started. It is inspiring to see fellow Missourians exhibiting the foresight as I've witnessed.

DAVID W. BALDWIN, Cape Girardeau