Proving that robotics competitions are not just for elementary through high school students, members of the College of Southern Maryland robotics team has won the robotics tournament at their first qualifier competition, held at the California University of Pennsylvania.

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Proving that robotics competitions are not just for elementary through high school students, members of the College of Southern Maryland robotics team has won the robotics tournament at their first qualifier competition, held at the California University of Pennsylvania. Teams participating in the competition included Muhlenberg College of Allentown, Pa.; Alfred University (N.Y.) and the University of Illinois at Urbana. The competition includes an autonomous, or programmed, segment of the match, requiring extensive programming. There are qualifier competitions from September to March each year, with the culminating event being the World Championship which will be at Disneyland in April. CSM's team, The Talons, named for the college's hawk mascot, consists of eight core members and several other students who provide support for the team. Heather Stripling is a biomedical major who has tinkered with things since she was a toddler. Stripling wants to transfer to the University of Maryland to continue working toward a degree in bio-engineering. When she saw a television program on military veterans receiving prosthetic limbs, she began focusing on a career that would enable her to work on designing and advancing prosthetics.