Apply to Girls of Steel

Every fall, Girls of Steel Robotics runs multiple FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge teams, with five to eight students each. Each team will build and code LEGO robots that will complete tasks autonomously and do an innovation project that they will present to judges. The FLL Challenge teams will be mentored by high school members of Girls of Steel Robotics' teams, as well as local college students, so kids will have a good opportunity to learn from near-age peers.

This year, we are offering two FLL options: our CLASSIC teams which will meet once per week and are intended to be a low-intensity, fun experience, and our INTENSIVE teams which will meet twice per week and offer more opportunities to go deep into engineering and coding concepts.

Who:
All students in grades 4-6

When:
Saturdays 9am-12pm or 1-4pm (both CLASSIC and INTENSIVE), and Wednesdays 6-8pm (INTENSIVE only), August 29th through December 12th

The Southwestern PA FLL Grand Championship is currently scheduled for December 12th and 13th.

Commitment:
As teams are small and kids are involved in every aspect of their team's work, it is important that students miss as few meetings as possible. At minimum, 80% of practices should be attended.

Team Communications:
Email will be our primary means of communication.

Carpooling:
Lots of families come from the farthest reaches of Allegheny County (or even our neighboring counties) to participate in our programs. We will make an interactive map showing team member's locations so that families can find potential carpool opportunities.

Become part of the next generation of engineers, entrepreneurs, and innovators! Join our 7th-12th grade FIRST robotics program for an immersive, year-long journey where you’ll gain hands-on experience with the engineering design process, Java programming, and real-world project management. Beyond building robots, you’ll have the opportunity to master critical skills like strategy analysis, budgeting, graphic design, and leadership.

🛠️ What You Will Master
* Robotics basics: All participants start together in a series of immersive sessions covering fundamentals of robotics
* Competition strategy: Break down the rules of the competition to influence robot design and driving strategy
* Robotics design: Take the strategies and transform them into CAD-based robots by learning OnShape and how to fabricate parts digitally before assembling them on the real bot
* Programming and autonomous design: Learn Java programming skills while also learning how to integrate sensors and path planning into designing autonomous competition routines
* Project and time management: Understand how to break down large tasks into smaller ones, and how tasks all inter-relate to each other in order to understand a project at a high-level
* Business and outreach experience: In addition to technical work, we work on presentation skills, budgeting, graphic design, social media, and teaching community workshops
* Leadership growth: We have numerous opportunities to grow leadership skills through technical teams, business projects, and outreach opportunities

📅 Program Details
Dates: July 1st, 2026 – June 30th, 2027
Open enrollment through July 31st (returning 7th-12th grade program participants) or August 31st (new participants only)

Open Hours
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays 5-9:30pm
Saturdays 9am-5pm
Additional hours are sometimes added by student request, particularly when major deadlines are near

Required Hours
All Students: Tuesdays 6-9pm, beginning August 18th, 2026
FTC students: One additional 3 hour session per week, to be chosen from within the open hours based on each team’s preference
FRC students: One to three additional 3 hour sessions per week, depending on time of year
(FTC and FRC teams can be selected by the student closer to the beginning of the fall season)

Location: Carnegie Mellon University, 6555 Penn Ave Building