[DougHogg]

From

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...type=printable

San Francisco Chronicle
Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer

What happens to FIRST Robotics Competition veterans after they graduate from high school? They launch their television careers, of course.
...

The latest robotics program is "Robot Rivals" on the Do It Yourself Network (available on some digital cable networks, DirecTV and DISH Network). It features three UC Berkeley students -- seniors Eric Park and Daniel Lehrbaum, and first-year graduate student Bharathmwaj Muthuswamy -- facing students from 13 other colleges for bragging rights.

Most robotics competitions aren't made for TV. According to David Calkins, president of the Robotics Society of America, based in San Francisco, about 400 people in the Bay Area compete in dozens of robotics tournaments locally and around the country. "San Francisco probably has the most roboticists per square foot in the country," Calkins said.

They include Park, who grew up in Millbrae, and Lehrbaum, who grew up in Palo Alto and plays on Cal's club ice hockey team. The two are old rivals from FIRST competitions. The producers of "Robot Rivals" found them through Professor Ron Fearing's mechatronic design class.