Six Hawaii teams and one Australian team qualified for the FIRST Robotics World Championships after competing last month in the regional competition.

Friends of Hawai’i Robotics hosted the eighth annual FIRST Robotics Regional Competition, presented by Oceanic Time Warner Cable, at the University of Hawaii’s Stan Sheriff Center. More than 1,500 students, mentors and teachers representing 36 local, national and international high schools teams competed.

The seven finalists will take their robots to the World Championships, which will get underway Wednesday in St. Louis, Mo.

The qualifying teams are The Hawaiian Kids, Waialua High School; Team Kika Mana, McKinley High School; Tiki Techs, Kealakehe High School; Charger Robotics, Pearl City High School; TrojanBots, St. Anthony Jr./Sr. High School; Falcons, Kalani High School; and Thunder Down Under, Greater Sydney Area High Schools.

"We’re so proud to be nurturing the next generation of scientists, engineers, doctors, inventors, business leaders and public servants," said Lenny Klompus, president of Friends of Hawai’i Robotics and FIRST regional director.

"We know our students will become household names in the near future as they develop their powerful skills and create technologies that will benefit humankind."

Nick Sarji, 12, a sixth-grader at Aikahi Elementary School, is the 2015 Kamaaina Kids Hawaii State Spelling Bee champion.

He won in the 12th round with the word "fabula." The runner-up was Kealia Haitsuka, 13, an eighth-grader at Hawaii Preparatory Academy.

Contestants from seven districts throughout the state competed for the title last month.

Sarji will represent Hawaii at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., on May 24-29.

Among sponsors of the Hawaii State Spelling Bee are Meadow Gold Dairies, Hawaii Medical Assurance Association, UHA Health Insurance, aio, Big City Diner, Outrigger Enterprises Group and Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

Justin Yoshimoto, a University of Hawaii at Manoa electrical engineering student, is the recipient of the 2015 Student Engineer of the Year Award by the Hawaii Council of Engineering Societies. The annual award is presented to a single undergraduate from among all engineering majors throughout the state.

Yoshimoto is in his final semester as an undergraduate with a 3.95 GPA.

He has been active in a variety of projects, initially serving as the software team lead and project manager for a micromouse project, followed by a stint as ground station software lead for a student-built nanosatellite that was launched into orbit in 2013. He also gained research experience investigating the applications of liquid metal.

During his senior year, Yoshimoto co-founded and served as assistant program manager for the UH Drone Technologies Program involving more than 20 students from the high school through graduate level. He is the program’s flight control system lead for a quad-rotor drone for search-and-rescue applications.

Nicole Sharp, a student at Leeward Community College, has been selected as a 2014 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar. This scholarship is designed to help new Phi Theta Kappa members defray educational expenses while enrolled in a two-year college.

Chosen from more than 900 applications worldwide, the scholars receive $1,000 each to further their associate degree studies. Independent judges evaluate the applications based on scholastic achievement, community service and leadership potential.

Supported by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, the Leaders of Promise Program enables Phi Theta Kappa to award $200,000 to members annually, including members of the military and veterans.

The Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program was conceived by International Officers and launched in 2001. Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Miss., is the largest honor society

in higher education with 1,285 chapters on college campuses in the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau,

Peru, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands and the United Arab Emirates.