Selected Makati Science High School students partook in DOST-SEI's Tagisang Robotics 2011 held during October 27 to 28, at One Esplanade in Pasay City.

Maksci Roboccaneers, the school's robotics team for the event, consisted of Team Captain Rafael Vincent Manalo from IV-Einstein, John Carlo Caranguian, Joseph Paulo Gonzales, Karlos Federico Lampa, John Uriel Paulo Zamora, and Toni Garcia from IV-Einstein, Marc Jefferson Tabujara from IV-Faraday, Justine Renz Mailed from IV-Newton, Ruth Dennise Angat from III-Rutherford, and Christian Banzon from III-Roentgen. Teacher Job Ferrer coached the team.

The team was one team in the alliance that won 2nd place.

A dry run first took place on October 26. The actual event started the following day at 8:30 AM with the doxology and National Anthem from the St Paul College of Makati Glee Club. This was followed by a Parade of School Teams and an AVP Module. Dr. Filma G. Brawner, Director of SEI-DOST gave opening remarks and Hon. Mario G. Montejo, Secretary of DOST, conveyed a message. The St Paul College of Makati Glee Club performed again for the intermission number. The program was emceed by DJ Jack Melo.

Elimination Rounds started and continued on October 28.

Schools competed in Sikaran 2011, which had mechanics similar to that of a combined soccer and basketball game. Two alliances would be playing against each other: the red alliance and the blue alliance. Each alliance comprised of 3 robots each, with each robot controlled by a member of the school's robotics team that owned the robot.

The aim of the game was to shoot the most sepak takraw balls - called 'milon' balls - into the goal of the opponent within the two minute time limit. Each milon ball was worth 2 points.

There were also 2 shooters on each alliance that could directly shoot the ball into the goal without use of a robot. During the last 30 seconds of the game a shooter could get an opponent's ball and trade it for a pakwan ball worth ten points.

Robots were inspected by Authorized Inspectors before matches and after every change the team would make with the robot. The robot had to be safely constructed and it had to fall within the 2 x 2 x 2 feet parameter. Inspectors installed and configured a frequency switch on the robot that would determine the frequency the team would use during each match. All robots were placed under quarantine at the end of each day.

After the elimination round, the top 4 teams were determined and each team would get to choose two other teams not in the top 4 that they could form an alliance with for the finals.

The top four teams were Grace Christian College, Tibagan High School, Saint Paul College of Makati and Manila Science High School. The top four alliances were Grace Christian College, Rizal National Science High School, and Dr Yanga's College; Tibagan High School, Makati Science High School, and Bangkal High School; Saint Paul College of Makati, Parañaque Science High School, and Muntinlupa Science High School; and Manila Science High School, Valenzuela Science High School, and La Salle Green Hills.

After the Final Round (which was won by the alliance of Grace Christian College), Dr. Filma G. Brawner gave another message and another AVP Module was presented. Awarding Ceremonies were held.

The major awards were Best Team (the team with the highest seed) and Best Alliance. Special awards were ThinkLab's Best Blog, Felta's Most Popular Robot, Alexan's Most Popular Team, and National Instruments Best Engineering Design.

Grace Christian College won the Best Team award and they also won the Best Alliance award along with Rizal National Science High School and Dr Yanga's College.

The Best Team was given Php 100,000 and their coach was given Php 30,000. The Best Alliance was given Php 150,000 and the coaches were given Php 30,000 each.

Muntinlupa Science High School won the Best Blog award and Caloocan Science High School won both the Most Popular Robot and Most Popular Team award. Philippine Science High School Diliman won the Best Engineering Design award.

In partnership with NIDO Fortified Science Discovery Center and SM Prime Holdings and sponsors ALEXAN, THINKLAB, National Instruments, FELTA Multi-Media Inc., Philippine Foundation for Science and Technology, and Jollibee Foundation, Tagisang Robotics: Design, Build, and Play is the Philippines' first ever varsity type robotics competition that gives students first hand experience of solving real world problems through science and engineering. It is founded on the ideas "Pagyabong ng kalinangan at pagkakaisa sa gitna ng pakikipagtunggali".

"Tagisang Robotics also revisits the Filipino virtue bayanihan, enshrined in its objective of cultivating in the hearts and minds of participants the value of teamwork, team spirit and cooperation. The competition is a good breeding ground for collaborative work by fostering good working relationships among future research and development personnel in the Philippines," said Dr Filma G Brawner.

Mario G Montejo told the students and mentors "The applications that robots do in our life and in our society are very important. From tending to household chores to handling nuclear and radioactive chemicals for many different uses such as weapons, power plants, environmental cleanup and the processing of certain medicines, robots perform difficult tasks that humans are unable to do.

"As our country faces the challenge of pooling a dearth of highly-trained scientists and engineers, we are hopeful that this competition will heighten your passion and dedication to strive for excellence. We believe that you have the power to do the best in science and technology!"