Students' robots fly into 3M headquarters

A couple of dozen robots briefly took over the plaza at 3M's Maplewood headquarters Friday, as Minnesota high school robotics teams showed off their machines.

3M scientists, engineers and other employees serve as mentors to hundreds of students on local robotics teams.

Hans Mueller, a member of the Eagan High School robotics team, said his experience with the team and counsel from 3M workers put him on the path toward an industrial engineering degree.

"Here at 3M, I met with several employees throughout my experience in robotics, who helped me decide what I wanted to do," Mueller said. "So, it really enabled me to pick the career I want to go on to do."

3M provides more than $1 million a year in equipment and donations to robotics teams worldwide.

Inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen founded FIRST Robotics and was present for the event Friday. He said Minnesota is a national leader with some 200 robotics teams, but he wants to see more teams here and across the country.

"This is the only sport where every kid can turn pro and it should be the sport that every school has," Kamen said. "This sport leads to careers, life changing opportunities and we need to make it more available to more kids everywhere."