On it's 10th Anniversary Maryland Tech Invitational Becomes Multinational Tech Invitational as Regional Robotics Competition Expands Across Four States and Global Stage

Laure, MD — January 23, 2026 — The Maryland Tech Invitational (MTI), one of the world’s most competitive student robotics events, is now the Multinational Tech Invitational—a name that reflects the competition's expansion across Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, and its growing roster of international teams. Together, the hosts, FIRST Chesapeake and FIRST Tech Challenge Pennsylvania, reinforce the Invitational’s role as a collaborative, multi-state effort with a globally minded competition hosted at one of the nation's premier applied research institutions.

“Our name needed to match who we are today,” said Amber Driesman, MTI’s Tournament Director and Founder. “This competition is no longer defined by where it began, but by the teams we welcome and the regional partnerships that make it possible. Multinational Tech Invitational captures both.”

MTI’s core mission remains unchanged: to provide an elite, invitation-only competition experience that challenges students to demonstrate technical excellence, teamwork, and innovation while building meaningful pathways into future STEM education and careers.

What Sets MTI Apart?

• An Invitation-Only Tournament: The most competitive teams from around the world apply to receive a spot to compete, ensuring every match is a challenge worth watching.

• Performance Over Prestige: No non-technical awards dictate advancement. Strategy, execution, and engineering are the sole measures of success.

• Consistent Gameplay, Enhanced Competition: The FTC game remains unchanged so teams can refine their strategies.

• A STEM Experience Beyond the Arena:

• Intern Networking Program to connect students with real-world career opportunities.

• STEM Expo showcasing industry leaders, emerging technologies, and hands-on experiences.

• Educational enrichment programs that expand learning beyond robotics.

• Sustaining the Future of Competitive Robotics: MTI continues to fund teams through grants and in-kind grants, ensuring that financial barriers never stifle innovation.

"MTI has always attracted the world's top FTC teams—that legacy of excellence isn't changing," said Alex Bryant, President of FIRST Chesapeake. "What is changing is the organizational capacity behind it. FIRST Chesapeake is the third-largest FTC district in the world, and together with FIRST Tech Challenge Pennsylvania, we're bringing the infrastructure, expertise, and regional reach to ensure MTI continues to showcase the absolute best young innovators and problem-solvers. These students aren't just building robots—they're developing the skills that will define the next generation of STEM leadership."

The Multinational Tech Invitational name and branding will be used immediately across event materials, digital platforms, and communications. All past competitions and archives will remain part of MTI’s history under the new identity.

The tenth annual  MTI takes place June 26-29, 2026 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD.  For more information visit https://www.firstchesapeake.org/mti

Get in the Action

As MTI scales under new leadership, corporate and community partners have an opportunity to invest in the nation's most competitive pipeline of tech-ready talent. Sponsorships support team participation, event operations, and STEM enrichment programs—while providing direct access to top engineering students, industry mentors, and workforce development networks on a global scale. 

MTI also welcomes volunteers with technical expertise and invites STEM advocates to attend the competition June 26–29, 2026, at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.

For sponsorship inquiries and event details, visit firstchesapeake.org/mti or contact Alex Bryant at abryant@firstchesapeake.org. 

About the Multinational Tech Invitational

Formerly the Maryland Tech Invitational, the Multinational Tech Invitational is a highly competitive, invitation-only FIRST Tech Challenge event bringing together top middle & high school student teams from across the United States and around the world. The Invitational emphasizes collaboration, real-world problem solving, and workforce-aligned STEM outcomes within a global competitive environment.

ABOUT FIRST TECH CHALLENGE (FTC)

FIRST Tech Challenge teams (up to 15 team members, grades 7-12) are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles, while realizing the value of hard work, innovation, and working as a team. The robot kit is reusable from year to year and can be coded using a variety of levels of Java-based programming. Teams design and build robots, raise funds, design and market their team brand, and do community outreach to earn specific awards. Participants are eligible to apply for $80M+ in college scholarships.

ABOUT FIRST CHESAPEAKE

FIRST Chesapeake is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization that operates the FIRST Robotics program in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. We work as a community to prepare young people for a STEM future and aim to ensure our programs have a lasting, positive impact on participants across all demographic groups. 

ABOUT PENNSYLVANIA FTC

Pennsylvania FTC oversees the FIRST Tech Challenge program across Pennsylvania, offering students opportunities to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and engineering skills through robotics competitions and STEM outreach.

ABOUT FIRST

FIRST® is a global robotics community dedicated to preparing young minds for the future, engaging over 6,000 teams of middle and high school students annually in various robotics challenges. Through its programs, FIRST aims to cultivate STEM skills, innovation, and teamwork among the next generation of innovators and problem solvers.