Middle school and high school students competed for a chance to advance in a robotics competition, putting them on a path toward careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

About 24 teams from Connecticut in grades seven through 12 competed at the Connecticut FIRST Tech Challenge at Green Farms Academy in Westport Saturday.

Sahiba Dhindsa, an eighth-grader from Westport, wants to be an engineer. She helped steer her team's robot during the competition. The team spent months building, designing and programming its robot. 

"I thought I would really get an amazing opportunity working with other girls who had the same interests as me," said Sahiba. "There are more guys in STEM than girls."

The American School for the Deaf in West Hartford also competed. "There are only 17 schools for the deaf in America, and right now, American School for the Deaf is the only team that competes here," said student Javier Santana.

Tyler Green, of Westport, also competed. "Cars, the building we're in, the camera that's recording this -- somebody has to engineer it. Someone has to design it," said Tyler.

The three winning teams from the event will advance to the next round in Scranton, Pennsylvania, next month.