At Rose City Robotics, we are proud to join the celebration of National Robotics Week, happening April 5–13, 2025! This nationwide event highlights the power of robotics to inspire students, promote STEM education, and showcase the incredible innovations shaping our future.
National Robotics Week was founded to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers, celebrate robotics technology, and advance public awareness about the growing importance of STEM fields. It's a time when communities, schools, and organizations across the country come together to share the excitement of innovation and discovery.
This year, Rose City Robotics is proud to be mentoring a small group of local high school interns, who are working with our founders on real-world robotics and AI/ML projects. Through this hands-on experience, these students are building critical technical skills, growing their confidence, and becoming part of the community shaping the future of technology. While our internship positions are currently filled for the summer, we remain deeply committed to fostering educational opportunities and inspiring the next generation of innovators.
Local Robotics Opportunities in Portland
We love being part of the vibrant and growing robotics ecosystem here in Portland. If you are in or are approaching high school and are interested in diving deeper into robotics, here are some local programs and teams to explore:
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FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)
- The Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program (ORTOP) coordinates the Oregon FRC chapter. FRC challenges high school teams to design and build industrial-size robots for complex field games, all while learning skills in fundraising, branding, and STEM advocacy. The 2025 season, themed REEFSCAPE, kicked off in January.
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Local High School FRC Robotics Teams
- Pigmice (FRC Team 2733) Based at Cleveland High School, the Pigmice have been active since 2009, working to make Southeast Portland a hub for K-12 robotics education.
- Flaming Chickens (FRC Team 1540) Operating from Catlin Gabel School, the Flaming Chickens have a strong history of success in competition and a commitment to promoting diversity and innovation in STEM.
- Jesuit Robotics (FRC Team 2374) Located at Jesuit High School, Jesuit Robotics emphasizes student-led design, engineering, and leadership, and has been competing in the FRC since 2008.
- Beta Blues Robotics (FRC Team 5975) St. Mary’s Academy is home to Oregon’s only all-female FRC robotics team, Beta Blues Robotics, focused on empowering young women in science and engineering fields.
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VEX Robotics Competitions
Students can also compete in the Oregon State Platinum High School V5RC Championship, a major event hosted by Mt. Hood Community College and Oregon Institute of Technology, where students apply their robotics knowledge in challenging competitions. -
Portland Public Schools Robotics Programs
Schools like McDaniel High School offer robotics clubs that give students opportunities to explore technology and engineering through hands-on projects. -
Community Outreach Organizations
- Project LEDO offers STEM programs including LEGO robotics for BIPOC and low-income youth, promoting equity and inclusion in technology education throughout the Portland area.
Expanding Access to Innovation: University Outreach
In addition to our high school engagement, Rose City Robotics is proud to serve as a University Ambassador for NVIDIA for Portland State University with the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute. As part of this program, we are excited to host a Robotics Lunch and Learn - University Edition a hands-on event for all local university students and faculty and a small group of representatives from local robotics start-ups and organizations.
At this hands-on workshop participants will:
- Teleoperate our open-source robotic system based on Stanford’s Mobile ALOHA project
- Learn how to collect datasets for training the robot to perform tasks
- Attend a technical talk from our CTO, Dr. Joseph Cole on how transformer neural networks work - the core technology behind both physical AI models for robotics as well as behind large language models like ChatGPT.
- Learn about trends in robotics, AI, and machine learning
- Discover job and career pathways in robotics
Space is limited, and only a few registration spots remain!
This initiative reflects our commitment to building a stronger regional innovation community, making cutting-edge robotics and AI education accessible to all.
Building the Future Together
At Rose City Robotics, we believe that empowering the next generation starts with real opportunities to learn, create, and lead. Through mentorships, partnerships, and educational outreach, we’re working to make STEM education more accessible, and more inspiring, than ever before.
We’re excited to celebrate National Robotics Week with our community and to continue building a future where technology serves as a force for good.
Let’s build it together. 🚀
Duncan Miller
Co-founder / CEO
Duncan is a software enginner with 20 years of experience as a founder in ed-tech, AI and clean-tech. He has expertise in automation software, test-driven AI development, user interface design and clean energy technologies. Duncan earned an MBA in Entrepreneurship from Babson College and teaches with the PSU center for entrepreneurship and business accelerator. He lives with his wife and two children in Portland Oregon on an extinct cinder code volcano. He is passionate about artificial intelligence, climate solutions, public benefit companies and social entrepreneurship.