(ABC 6 News) – Tonight, IBM, Rochester Public Schools and RCTC are hosting the 15th annual IBM LEGO Education Outreach Competition at RCTC.

More than 300 students from across Southeast Minnesota are competing to take the top spot.

The competition pits teams against each other in a robot building contest with the help of more than 40 IBM volunteers. The students have been learning to construct and program Lego Mindstorms robots.

“It’s about programming and about uh engineering and robotics at a young age, it helps them to learn that this is not impossible, it’s not magic, it’s something that anybody can do,” said Aaron Albertson an IBM education outreach core team leader. “It kind of gets you ready for later in life, making you aware that you can do this, that this is a career that’s viable for pretty much anybody.”

The top three teams will be recognized at the end of the competition.