More Than 10,000 Students from 23 Countries Converge on Georgia Dome to Celebrate Science and Technology at FIRST Championship April 12-14; 550 robots
DATELINE: ATLANTA
Since September 2006, more than 130,000 young people in 37 countries have been planning, building, and testing their robotic designs for a chance to compete at the annualFIRST(ForInspiration andRecognition ofScience andTechnology) Championship, April 12-14, in Atlanta's Georgia Dome. Months of preparation and regional competitions culminate this weekend, as teams from three separate robotics competitions - theFIRSTRobotics Competition, theFIRSTLEGO League, and theFIRSTVex Challenge - engage in the ultimate sporting competition for the mind.
FIRSTis a not-for-profit founded by Dean Kamen, renowned inventor of the Segway®Human Transporter. The public charity offers innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math while building life skills.
"To passively sit in a classroom is a 19thcentury format," said Kamen. "In this next century, you're going to have to be creative, or you're not going to make it. We want to help stimulate our youth to be varsity thinkers and varsity creators."
VARSITY CHALLENGE
The main event will be theFIRSTRobotics Competition (FRC) Championship for high school students, now in its sixteenth and largest-ever season. Three hundred forty four robotics teams comprised of 8,600 students will put their carefully constructed robots to the test in this year's challenge, "Rack 'N' Roll." The game tests the students and their robots' abilities to hang inflated, colored tubes on pegs configured in rows and columns on a 10-foot high center "rack" structure, program a robotic vision system to navigate the robot, and "lift" other robots more than 4" off the floor.
Approximately 32,500 high school students comprised of more than 1,300 teams from Brazil, Canada, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and - for the first time ever - every state in the U.S., participated in 37 regional competitions in March. Teams earned their invitations to the Championship by excelling in competitive play, sportsmanship, and the development of partnerships among schools, businesses, and communities.
NANO QUEST
In addition to FRC, theFIRSTLEGO League (FLL) World Festival for middle-school students features close to 1,000 students from the top 94 teams around the world. This year's FLL challenge, "Nano Quest," requires students to design, build, and program a LEGO MINDSTORMS®robot that manipulates individual atoms, targets medicine to reach a specific problem spot, and operates a space elevator - all on a tabletop playing field. FLL is an international program for students 9-14, created through a partnership betweenFIRSTand The LEGO Group in 1998.
FIRSTVEX CHALLENGE
The Championship also features theFIRSTVex Challenge (FVC) World Championship. FVC offers high-school students the challenge of aFIRSTRobotics Competition using a more accessible and affordable robotics kit, the Vex Robotics Design System. Approximately 1,000 students will compete.
SCHOLARSHIPS
FIRSTstudents are eligible for nearly $8 million in scholarships from some of the finest science and engineering schools in the country. Many of these schools will be featured in "Scholarship Row," where representatives will be on hand to offer more information about their schools' science and engineering programs as well as their support ofFIRST.
LEADERSHIP PRESENTATIONS
FIRSTwill also host aLeadership Roundtable on Innovation in Atlanta on Friday, April 13. Leaders will engage in a highly interactive discussion and provide insights for understanding and harnessing innovation. They will conclude with actionable recommendations for inspiring innovation and leadership among future members of the workforce.
Championship attendees will hear from speakers including Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, and will have the opportunity to attend the 2007FIRST Robotics Conference, April 11-13. The Conference features more than 40 presentations by experiencedFIRSTteam members, college and university representatives, and professionals such as IBM Fellow Don Eigler - also known as the father of nanotechnology - covering a wide variety of topics in science, technology, engineering, and robotics fields.
SPONSORS
Autodesk, Inc. is the Official Championship Sponsor of the 2007FIRSTChampionship. Other FIRSTChampionship sponsors this year are: Abbott Laboratories -FIRSTPit Sponsor; The Coca-Cola Company -FIRSTTeam Alliance Sponsor; FedEx Corporation -FIRSTShipping Sponsor; NASA - Machine Shop and Satellite Broadcast Sponsor; Underwriters Laboratories -FIRSTSafety Partner; Delphi Corporation -FIRSTHall of Fame Sponsor; Dassault Falcon Jet Corporation - FIRSTHospitality Center Sponsor; United States Patent and Trademark Office -FIRSTSponsor; Georgia Institute of Technology -FIRSTScholarship Row Sponsor; Central Intelligence Agency and Rolls-Royce -FIRSTRobotics Conference Sponsors; and theFIRSTRobotics Competition Peachtree Consortium: AT&T Georgia; The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation; Georgia Research Alliance; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., A Cisco Company; Southern Company; UPS; and Women in Technology, Inc.
ABOUTFIRST
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen foundedFIRST(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H.,FIRSTdesigns accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With the support of many of the world's most well-known companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts theFIRSTRobotics Competition andFIRSTVex Challenge for high-school students, theFIRSTLEGO League for children 9-14 years old, and the JuniorFIRSTLEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds. To learn more aboutFIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.
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Editor's Note:FRC practice matches will be held on Thursday, April 12, and competition matches will be held Friday, April 13, and Saturday, April 14. FLL and FVC matches will be held on Thursday and Friday. Beta video and digital photos of previous FIRST competitions are available on request.
CONTACT: Cone, Inc. for FIRST
Maureen O'Connell, 617-939-8330
moconnell@coneinc.com
or
FIRST
Marian Murphy, 603-666-3906 ext. 409
Communications Manager
mmurphy@usfirst.org