Over the weekend, more than 200 teams from across Canada and as far away as Taiwan and Palestine competed in the third annual Mecha Mayhem robot competition.

Over the past three years, it has grown to become Canada’s largest robotics competition and has drawn considerable interest from teams as a place where they can test their skill and mettle against some of the stiffest competition in the world.

Justin Zhou, co-founder of Mecha Mayhem and Director of Events at Western Mechatronics, said that every year teams have to tackle a new game format—which this year involves creating a robot that can stack rings and climb a ladder.

“They see the game, they see the rules, and they’re like, ‘all right, let’s build a robot for it.’ There’s no instructions. They just go ahead and build and design, and they get to test their designs here,” he said.

“For spectators that are coming in, they’ll see a range of teams, from beginners in middle school to experienced—basically engineers—in the collegiate division, and the robots are unbelievable.”

He said that teams take a year to perfect their designs, often at local competitions before heading to Mecha Mayhem as part of the lead-up to the VEX Robotics World Championships.

“A lot of the judges that volunteer at this event, they’re industry professional engineers, and when they interview some of those middle school teams, high school teams, university students, every single time their feedback is ‘I am so impressed by what they’re able to do, what these students are able to do,'” Zhou said.

“Not just from an engineering perspective, but also to communicate that in a way that they understand. It’s just incredible to see how we are building that next generation of leaders and innovators here, right here in Calgary.”

The fact that Calgary is becoming a destination of choice has drawn in international competition.

Oscar Gonzales, who coaches a team from Mexico, said that they came to Mecha Mayhem after winning a tournament in their home country and wanting to find other teams to compete against at a higher level.

“Unfortunately, in Mexico, it’s very hard to find good teams because there’s not enough money to buy new pieces and everything. Right here is a good level. Here in Canada and United States, there are a lot of good teams,” he said.

He said getting to compete and to connect was behind the passion for the Mexican team.

“We enjoy coming here to share our knowledge with other teams, and get knowledge from other teams… we like to learn how they made it out and how they made their [robots], and we can share our team with them,” Gonzales said.

Getting international attention on Calgary has led to investments into Mecha Mayhem

Zhou said that his team has worked hard to make Mecha Mayhem the kind of competition that has drawn international attention.

“It’s really bringing an international name and recognition that robotics here in Calgary is the place to go to if you want to have that excellent, world-class experience,” he said.

That growth has led to investments by several government and civic partners into the competition.

Minister of Arts, Culture, and Status of Women Tanya Fir announced that the province would be investing $35,000 from the province’s Community Initiatives Program into Mecha Mayhem.

Tourism Calgary also stepped up as a Gold Sponsor for the competition. Carson Ackroyd, Senior Vice President of Sales, said that the 1,200-plus participants and a strong local champion creating a signature Calgary event made sense as an investment.

“When you have a competition like this one on the robotic side of things, you’re going to have a gathering of minds in robotics and getting a chance to learn a little bit about Calgary and what goes on here with the organizers. Same thing, when we bring meetings and conventions,” Ackroyd said.

“It’s a chance to show off the work that’s going on in STEM, and certainly, I think all of that is a great complement to the work that [Calgary Economic Development] does to attract these businesses to the city.”

He said the growth in STEM tourism has been rising and Mecha Mayhem fits into that interest.

The fact that the weekend competition filled more than 50,000 sq. ft. of space in the new BMO Centre expansion doesn’t hurt when spreading that message about Calgary being a place to be.

“On this same weekend, we’re actually hosting 14 meeting planners from across across Canada, and about half from the US for a fan tour this weekend and same getting a chance to show off the new BMO Center,” Ackroyd said.

“This team, though from Western Mechatronics being, because the world so interconnected these days, you can start to build a reputation quite quickly inside these circles. When you’ve got a passion and an interest group—and what a great job they’ve done—I hope it’s just one that continues to grow.”