ROBOTICON Tampa Bay is a high energy K-12 STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Manufacturing) showcase and FIRST Robotics Competition off-season event organized by Eureka! Factory, a Tampa company specializing in educational and creative event and program development. ROBOTICON is produced in collaboration with the Foundation for Community Driven Innovation, a non-profit educational organization, in partnership with the University of South Florida and Hillsborough County, Florida, with live event coverage by PLuGHiTz Live of Largo, Florida. The mission of ROBOTICON is to increase public awareness of and engagement in the power of hands-on, mentor-driven youth engineering and robotics programs like FIRST, and to provide participating youth with a low stress, high-quality, competitive event with opportunities for skill-building, networking, and college and career readiness experiences. The free event, which draws over 3,000 people each year, started in 2013 and has been held at the University of South Florida’s Sun Dome Arena since 2016. ROBOTICON Tampa Bay provides students and guests with an opportunity to enjoy a full-scale FIRST Robotics Competition event featuring high school student-built robots that weigh up to 120 lbs., as well as companion programs for youth in elementary through middle school. Guests can tour Team Pits to see team members working on their robots, and have a chance to talk to students. Visit the Innovation Fair to enjoy STEAM demos, vendors and organizations; learn about the Tampa Bay Advanced Manufacturing & Robotics Center (AMRoC) and about technical, industrial, and science careers and college opportunities. Through ROBOTICON: • Participating competition teams become prepared for their new season. • New scholarship providers and team sponsors are identified • $60,000 – $80,000 is invested into the local economy as a result of the event each year, including hotel rooms, dining, shopping, and event production. ROBOTICON annually features: • FIRST Robotics Competition off-season competition • K-12 FIRST scrimmages and program workshops • University of South Florida Engineering Showcase • STEAM Fair with drones, industrial robotics and more • Science & Tech workshops ROBOTICON Tampa Bay is leveraging the private sector and the vast resources Tampa Bay already offers, to create a unique event that maximizes all our academic and business communities have to offer. Bringing industry-leading experts from local businesses, startup accelerators, and the educational system together to share their talents, collaborate on ideas, and plan for the future with those who will be driving the future – students. Teams from around Tampa Bay, Florida, the nation and international teams are invited to join in the fun and learning each October in Tampa! In 2019, ROBOTICON is also launching a new post-high school competitive robotics platform called NEXT, developed by the PLuGHiTz Corporation with Tampa Bay FIRST Alumni.