The inaugural STEAMuL8! (Steem-YOO-late) brought two days of competitive robots, drone racing, maker demonstrations and an informal STEM career day to the Columbus Civic Center and Ice Rink. Thousands enjoyed as regional artists, entrepreneurs and makers exhibited their craft and work at the all-ages, FREE event this past weekend at the South Commons in beautiful UpTown, Columbus, GA. 

ColumbusMakesIT (CMI) partnered with Georgia FIRST Robotics (GaFIRST.org) to bring the world’s largest Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) completion to the Electric River City. The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) StrongHold District Tournament pit 40 teams from around the state in a 54ft x 26ft arena for an incredible 3-robot vs. 3-robot castle-siege themed competition. See STEAMuL8.com/videos for this year’s game. 

Columbus Wins Big! 

The reigning state champion and only “home” FRC team is 4188, the Columbus Space Program (CSP), which took 1st place in the tournament with the winning alliance as well as won the Excellence in Engineering Award. As part of its Chairman’s Award public outreach program, it worked with Let’s Grow (STEAM)x (LGSX) to help arrange school field trip opportunities for the entire region. It was a popular trip for both students and teachers. 

STEAMUL8! is sponsored by Aflac, Pratt & Whitney, Synovus, the Columbus Sports Council, ColumbusMakesIT!, Liberty Utilities, Let’s Grow (STEAM)x and TSYS. Dozens of makers and artists demonstrated their craft and ingenuity while providing “mind’s-on” and “hands-on” demonstrations at this fun and inspiring educational event. Mayor Tomlinson, Synovus Chief Information Officer (CIO) Renee Roth, Aflac Vice President of Information Tecchnology Doug Brown, TSYS CIO Patty Watson, Pratt Whitney’s General Manager Tom Bode and MCSD Superintendent Dr. David Lewis each spoke briefly to the packed stands of teams from all over the state and children from every MCSD school at the opening ceremonies. Spencer High School JROTC presented the colors. 

Frank Braski, a Synovus volunteer and President and Founder of Columbus MakesIT! explains, “No one has ever combined these different events in one place. Some of the brightest minds in the region got to show off their STEM skills, and we want to show them that Columbus has a lot to offer. This is only just the beginning!” 

The Unmanned Systems Team of the Maneuver Battle Labs of Ft. Benning displayed robots that warfighters use in a diversity of deployment scenarios. Battle-bots, tactical and emergency ‘bots from Super Droid Robots (Raleigh, NC) and other makers like the GA Tech Robojackets were present as well. “It’s not just about the robots, drones, or the makers and artists exhibiting and demonstrating their skills,” says Braski, “STEAMuL8! is about kick-starting long-term economic development and diversifying the types of industry and enterprises in this region, giving these really bright, creative young people a reason to WANT to come back and create things in Columbus.” 

Todd Wahl, President and Founder of the Drone Racing Club (DRC) of Atlanta said, “Drone Racing is one of the fastest growing and exciting new sports, and First Person Viewer (FPV) technology really lets the spectators get in on the action. We are excited to be a part of the inaugural STEAMuL8!” The DRC conducted FAA licensed and AMA approved races all afternoon in the back of the Civic Center on Saturday. FPVlive.TV webcast the event live.