Avnet backs Mesa robotics team through AZ FIRST season

Avnet has expanded its support for Arizona FIRST Robotics by sponsoring a rookie team from Mesa High School, tying its STEM outreach efforts to a programme aimed at giving students hands-on experience in engineering, coding and team-based problem solving.

The electronics distributor said it selected the RoboRabbits, a newly formed team from Mesa High School in Arizona, for its first direct rookie team sponsorship. The school is a Title I campus, and the team entered the season as a small group of students building a robotics programme from scratch.

Avnet's involvement went beyond financial support. Employees worked with the students during the season, including one mentor who attended weekly meetings and travelled with the team to competition, and another volunteer who helped the students with Java programming as they built their first robot.

The project forms part of Avnet's broader support for AZ FIRST Robotics, a state programme linked to the wider FIRST robotics network. The company said the aim was to give students practical exposure to engineering and technology while also helping them develop broader skills in teamwork, communication and leadership.

Team support

Avnet said the RoboRabbits spent the season progressing from the early stages of team formation to designing and building their first competition robot.

The company's support included technical mentoring as well as branding help from Avnet's creative team, which worked with the students on team shirts and a competition banner. That support was intended to help the team establish its identity during its first season and build visibility for the programme within the school community.

The partnership reflects a common model in school robotics programmes, where corporate sponsors provide a mix of funding, technical expertise and staff time rather than limiting their role to donations. For companies with semiconductor, electronics or industrial technology operations, these programmes also sit within a broader effort to strengthen future STEM pipelines.

Avnet said its employee mentor provided guidance and practical insight throughout the season as the students worked through the design and build process and prepared for regional competition.

Competition season

The RoboRabbits competed in a regional FIRST Robotics event in Flagstaff, where the team faced technical setbacks early in the competition.

According to Avnet, the robot struggled to perform in the first round of matches. The team then improved over the course of the event by adjusting the robot, learning from each round and refining its approach as the competition progressed.

The company said the competition experience also served as a development point for the students beyond the technical challenge itself. Travelling together for the event gave the team time to build relationships and settle into a new group dynamic, which Avnet said contributed to the students' confidence and cohesion by the end of the trip.

One of the graduating seniors later told the team he planned to return as a mentor next year, a sign of how quickly the programme had established continuity despite being in its first season.

Wider programme

FIRST Robotics programmes are designed to expose school students to engineering and software development through a structured competition format. Teams build robots for game-based events, but the work also extends into fundraising, outreach and project management.

Avnet said that broader structure was part of the reason it chose to deepen its involvement. The company described the programme as one that teaches coding and robot design alongside communication, leadership and resilience.

The Arizona competition ecosystem also depends on support from other corporate backers. Avnet pointed to Microchip as a major supporter of the state programme, with a stated goal of expanding robotics access so that every school in Arizona can field a team in the same way schools support sports teams.

That ambition reflects a wider push in US STEM education to move robotics from a niche after-school activity into a more established part of school life, particularly in public schools that may have limited access to technical enrichment programmes without outside support.

Early results

Avnet said the RoboRabbits have continued working together after their first FIRST season and have already recorded a competitive result in another event.

The company said the team recently won its first title by becoming champions at an Arizona Robotics League qualifier held at Cactus High School in Glendale, Arizona.

For Avnet, the sponsorship gave the company a visible role in a local STEM programme while linking staff volunteers directly to a school team. For the RoboRabbits, it provided financial backing, technical support and a first season that carried them from forming a team to winning a competition.