Welcome parents and students to Alpena and Bots on the Bay — the district competition in Alpena for FIRST Robotics.

Over 1,000 participants and their families are expected to be in attendance today and Saturday for intense competition involving industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, public speaking, problem solving, trouble shooting, team building, fundraising, budget balancing, eye-hand coordination and finally, a lot of good fortune and a lot of good fun.

Some of the teams in attendance today are seasoned veterans, while others are rookie novices eager to experience the challenge ahead.

We expect Bots on the Bay will be an incredible learning experience for everyone. Ultimately there will be winners and losers but if the teams head into the competition with the right frames of mind then win or lose, everyone should walk away afterward with satisfaction and experience.

Ian Smith, a senior at Alpena High School, probably best described what lies ahead for participants.

“It’s entirely different than anything they’ve ever experienced. It’s really exciting and as a person who has played traditional sports, I find it even more exciting than watching football games in a lot of cases.”

Stop by and see for yourself this amazing display of engineering ingenuity.