BUTLER TWP — Butler County Community College on Saturday opened up its main campus to about 120 Boy Scouts who studied science, technology, engineering and mathematics while earning merit badges.

Scouts filled classrooms on all three levels of the Science, Technical & Cultural Center, where they learned through a number of activities, including building robots with employees of Penna Flame Industries, performing chemistry experiments with scientists from Sonneborn and even using a flight simulator provided by the Civil Air Patrol squadron.

The inaugural event, Technology Merit Badge Academy, was the Moraine Trails Council's way of making sure Scouts ages 11 to 16 could have an opportunity to fill requirements in subject areas they might not otherwise have access to.

Each of the scouts registered for a merit badge in these areas: aviation, chemistry, drafting, electricity, electronics, engineering, nuclear science or robotics. Also, there were two other classes off site: graphic design at the Butler Eagle in Butler and architecture at Ligo Architects in Slippery Rock.

Neil Ashbaugh, chairman of the steering committee that organized the event, said through donations from major sponsors BC3, Reldon & Hattie Cooper Charitable Foundation, BASF Corp., Slippery Rock University, the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board, Oberg Industries and the Butler County Manufacturing Consortium, Scouts only had to pay $12 to register.

Nick Helfer of Troop 53, an eighth grader at Knoch Middle School, joked he chose the nuclear science class because he wanted to “make things go boom.”

However, he said because he is interested in pursuing a career in geology, learning about radiation, atoms and nuclear waste will come in handy. Plus, the class filled his technology requirement as he works toward attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.

For Matt Adams of Troop 217, choosing the robotics class was a no-brainer.

“I'm kind of a technology guy,” he said enthusiastically.

The 13-year-old Chicora resident said the robots in the “Star Wars” movies sparked his interest in robotics at about age 7.

Now, with more than six years of robot-building experience behind him, he was helping other Scouts in his class while expanding his own skills.

“I'd give up a Saturday to learn robotics, but that's just me,” he said. “Being a robotics engineer is what I want to do.”

Dave Bachelier, director of engineering, was one of two Oberg employees to teach the drafting class.

“The one concept we're really trying to impart on them is everything must be drawn,” he said, explaining how he told the students to start thinking about how everyday objects work.

In the morning, Bachelier focused on teaching manual board drafting, but after lunch, he said he would start letting the Scouts work with AutoCAD software. Plus, he brought a version of professional engineering software he uses at the Buffalo Township precision manufacturer to show the scouts.

“You've got to give them room for freelancing,” he said, adding he was really impressed by the potential the scouts were showing.

Bert Vogt, a robotics programmer and operator for Penna Flame, which is a flame hardening business outside of Zelienople, used the teaching opportunity to stress the importance and flexibility of careers in technology.

“I don't think enough kids in this area realize you can get an extremely high-tech, advanced job in a machine shop,” he said, explaining having a degree in mathematics with a minor in physics has helped him to fully understand what his job entails.

“You can get dirty and have a real man job ... and do it with real brain power,” he said.

“There are minds behind these machines and practices,” he said.

Melissa Walter, a laboratory technician with Cranberry Township-based Westinghouse Electric, volunteered to be a merit badge counselor because her two younger brothers signed up for the nuclear science class. She also enlisted the help of colleague Kyle Shearer, a nuclear safety engineer.

“They're great,” she said of the scouts. “They're asking really intuitive questions.”

Ray Tennent, scout executive for the Moraine Trails Council, said he was thankful for all the people who made the event possible, especially the adults who became merit badge counselors.

He said the experience will be a great benefit in the council's mission to help mold future leaders.

“We look for this to grow,” said Henry Sinopoli, president of the Moraine Trails Council. “This is a wonderful opportunity. ... We worked really hard to get this in Butler County.”

“There are a lot of opportunities we can explore,” agreed Ashbaugh, who along with being an Oberg employee and chairman the manufacturing consortium, also is scoutmaster of Troop 5 in Center Township and the father of two scouts at the academy.

Stephen Catt, executive director for workforce development at BC3, said the program was about two years in the making.

He said he and Ashbaugh started working on the idea through service with the Northwest Region Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Network.

“It's a lot of work with a lot of people involved,” he said.