9-30-2024 6:28pm

BRIDGEWATER COMMONS CELEBRATES STEM AT ROBOCON NEW JERSEY

Donnella Tilery Editor

High school student teams from four states participated in the region’s largest robotics competition. Photo credit: Bridgewater Commons)

BRIDGEWATER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (September 30, 2024) — Dozens of high school students from a four-state region and thousands of Bridgewater Commons guests celebrated the wonders of technology at RoboCon New Jersey, the region’s largest robotics event.

Merging fun and education, the free, mall-wide RoboCon New Jersey focuses on K-12 students to inspire and energize them to not only think big but to develop the science, technology, engineering, and math. Twenty-four FIRST® Robotics Competition Robotics Teams from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland competed in the exciting Robot Rumble, followed by interactive exhibits throughout the mall.

“The two-day RoboCon event pays tribute to New Jersey’s history of technology innovation, dating from the days of Thomas Edison and to the innovations being produced around the state every day,” said Tom Kovacic, Marketing and Business Development Director at Bridgewater Commons. “This is a wonderful way to celebrate the teenagers who will continue that legacy in years to come, and to introduce science and engineering to future generations.”

The event is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, Bridgewater Commons and Picatinny STEM, and produced by six New Jersey FIRST® Robotics Competition High School Teams from Warren, Bound Brook, Hillsborough, Somerville, Scotch Plains, and North Plainfield.

Located along Interstate 287 at the intersections of Route 22 and Route 202/206, the 1.2 million-square-foot Bridgewater Commons is Somerset County’s largest shopping, dining, and entertainment destination.

The complex also includes The Village at Bridgewater Commons, a unique, open-air shopping district with more than 10 retailers and food and beverage locations including LOFT, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Shake Shack, and Starbucks.