Zach Lytle built his one-pound robotic monstrosity to destroy.

Armed with a spinning drum, Lytle’s robot, “The Bomb,” tore up the competition at The Smackdown at Sac Town, the marquee event at today’s Engineering Expo at Sacramento State.

“I was always good at building things and I never had a really good outlet for it,” Lytle said. “But I saw Battlebots on TV and said, ‘that’s exactly for me.'”

Lytle, a Chico State engineering student, was one of a handful of competitors from around Northern California who came to Sac State to test their robots during the expo.

Outside of mechanized mayhem, the expo also offered Sac State engineering students an opportunity to show off their own projects, as well as display other practical and entertaining applications of engineering skills.

Exhibits ranged from a hover craft built by former Sac State students to a demonstration of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s bomb squad robot.

A number of interactive booths also allowed attendees to get hands on with remote controlled helicopters, flight simulators and toy fighting robots.

Though the high-tech toys sought to entertain, expo Event Coordinator Bryan Solari stressed that the main intent of the event was educational.

The education aspect came out as expo visitors were encouraged to participate in prize raffles that involved answering science-related questions.

“Pretty much everything is directed towards kids, trying to get them involved in engineering,” said Solari, a mechanical engineering major at Sac State.

Rodney Robinson brought his three children to the expo last year and decided to come back this year.

Though he felt the turnout last year was larger, Robinson said the effect was still the same.

“It’s a good educational things for the kids,” Robinson said. “What kind of kid doesn’t like robots?”

Paul Rios can be reached at [email protected].