TTU engineering students traveled to Knoxville Monday to compete against 13 rival universities from across the nation, including Vanderbilt, Princeton and Duke, on the Do It Yourself Network's "Robot Rivals" show.

TTU faced off against the University of Pittsburgh in the competition that challenged teams to build a robot in one day to perform a specific task — for this tournament, a robot that bowls. Working with a robotics expert assigned by DIY, the three-man team submitted a design, and Stephen Canfield, associate professor of Mechanical Engineering, helped prepare the team for competition.

The episode is scheduled to air sometime in January during the second season of "Robot Rivals." The DIY Network, broadcast on local cable channel 108, is currently airing reruns of first-season shows.

Pictured above: TTU students Wayne Douglas, Kevin Coleman and Josh Long with NASA consultant Buzz Dawson (kneeling) during DIY Network taping of "Robot Rivals."