Building the Future with Community Robotics

This episode of TechXY Turbo explores how robotics competitions and hands-on engineering education are changing lives for Buffalo's youth. Dillan Sayers, founder and director of Rust Belt Robotics, Buffalo's first and only community-based FIRST Robotics Competition team, joins the show to discuss how technology education can break down barriers and create opportunities for students from all backgrounds.

As a mechanical design engineer at EWI and former R&D manager with experience in advanced manufacturing and battery technology, Dillan brings real-world engineering expertise to his volunteer work. But his most important title might be Team Director of Rust Belt Robotics, a free program he founded in 2022 to serve Buffalo's youth. Unlike school-based teams, Rust Belt Robotics welcomes any student regardless of which school they attend or their family's financial situation.

In this conversation, Dillan shares what it takes to build competitive robots with high school students, how teaching electrical, programming, and mechanical design skills prepares the next generation for advanced manufacturing jobs, and why Buffalo's industrial heritage makes it the perfect place for a robotics renaissance. Listeners will discover how technology competitions teach more than just engineering - they build confidence, teamwork, and a pathway to careers students might never have imagined.