Algonac Robotics Teams Visits PTM Corporation

On Monday, October 30, 2023, the Algonac Robotics Club came to visit the PTM campus in preparation for their upcoming competition season. The club is made up of students from 4th grade through 12th grade.

Founded in 2015, the Full Metal Muskrats started as an after-school program and has grown into three different teams. The students compete in FIRST robotics challenges and are given new challenges every season for which they must build their robots to overcome. The teams spend several months planning, designing, and building their robots to compete in Local, State, and World championships.

During their visit, the students were able to get in their first practice for presenting their robots to an audience and answering questions about their projects and what challenges they had to overcome.

Alexa Goldenbogen, PTM Training Coordinator and former teacher at Algonac Schools, had this to say about the visit, “The Full Metal Muskrats needed a place to practice before competition and PTM had just the stage for that! We were so impressed to see students as young as 5th grade talking about their accomplishments and discoveries. We are more than just a metal stamping company; we are a community, and it is important to share our values and knowledge with others.”

After the students completed their presentations, they were given a demo by Matt Herber, PTM CAD Fixture Design and Robotics technician, on how their STEM skills learned in the robotics club translate into the workplace. They were then taken on a tour of our prototype division by our Director of Prototype, Mike Julian. Many of the students were captivated by the different machines and had many questions on their capabilities.

Mike had this to say, “It was amazing to see how students are using technology at such a young age. I’m so proud of all the students who came out to showcase their robots. I was impressed with their social and technical skills responding to both questions and answers from the audience. It makes me feel great that the future of manufacturing will continue to grow with the awesome, bright minds of tomorrow.“  

We thank the students for coming and wish them a successful season!