FIRST® Hosts 20,000+ Students at World’s Largest Robotics Competition
will.i.am, U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith, NASA
Administrator Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden, U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Michelle
D. Johnson, and Top Inventors Celebrate Student Achievements in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Math During FIRST Championship in St. Louis
Championship Presenting Sponsor Qualcomm Incorporated and Dean Kamen
Cheered on Young Innovators from 42 Countries as their Robots Competed
at Annual Robotics Event
ST. LOUIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–This week, more than 20,000 students from around the globe traveled to
St. Louis, putting their engineering skills to the test at the annual FIRST®
(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
Championship, held at various venues throughout the city.
The four-day event came down to a heart-pounding conclusion Saturday
night in front of a roaring crowd of more than 40,000 when four teams
from Hermosa Beach, California; Tremont, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; and
Glen Allen, Virginia of the Carver Subdivision won the coveted FIRST
Robotics Competition Championship Winning Alliance. In this year’s
game, FIRST
STRONGHOLDSM, Alliances worked together to breach
their opponents’ fortifications, weaken their tower, and capture the
opposing tower. Robots scored points by breaching opponents’ defenses
and tossing boulders through goals in the opposing tower. During the
final 20 seconds of the match, robots were allowed to surround and scale
the opposing tower to capture it.
In all, over 20,000 students, ages 6 to 18, participated in FIRST Championship
events in St. Louis.
Selected Quotes:
-
FIRST Founder Dean Kamen urged students to use their
imagination to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges: We
believe that if you can show kids that the tools of mathematics and
engineering empower them to do some really cool, really fun things,
they’ll get passionate about it. -
Colin Gillespie, President, LEGO® Education North America,
said: Research shows we’re significantly more creative when we’re 5
years old than we are when we’re 25, but you can keep your creativity
alive with playful learning experiences like those you get through FIRST.
You’re rekindling that awesome creativity and can see the world in
ways (we) can only hope to imagine. -
NASA Administrator Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden said: I can’t stress how
important it is to have young people like each of you pursuing STEM.
You and your Mentors have demonstrated that it can be a lot of hard
work, but also a lot of fun. It’s important work that can make a real
difference to the world’s future.
Among the participants from around the globe, many earned honors for
design excellence, competitive play, research, business plans, website
design, teamwork, and partnerships. A not-for-profit organization
founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST inspires young
people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
In St. Louis, more than 900 teams from 42 countries competed in the four FIRST
programs: FIRST®
LEGO® League (grades 4 to
8, 9 to 14-year-olds in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; 9 to 16-year-olds
outside the U.S., Canada, and Mexico); FIRST®
Tech Challenge (grades 7 to 12, 12 to 18-year-olds); and FIRST®
Robotics Competition (grades 9 to 12, ages 14 to 18). In
addition to the high-energy robotics matches, 60 teams of 6 to
9-year-olds participated in the FIRST®
LEGO® League Jr.
(grades K-3, ages 6-9), World Festival Expo.
The Bart
Kamen Memorial FIRST Scholarships were given to:
-
Ryan Bigej, FIRST Tech Challenge Team 9123,
Mechanicougs, Hubbard, OR -
Jameson Kief, FIRST Robotics Competition Team 4557, The
FullMetal Falcons, Plantsville, CT -
Miranda Rector, FIRST Tech Challenge Team 3493, Venice
Technomatics, Los Angeles, CA -
Maya Varma, FIRST Tech Challenge Team 5917, Arcrobots, and FIRST
Robotics Competition Team 2135, Presentation Invasion, Cupertino, CA
The FIRST Championship honored significant supporters of the FIRST
mission:
-
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was the recipient
of the Founder’s Award, presented each year by FIRST
founder Dean Kamen to one organization or individual for exceptional
service in advancing the ideals and mission of FIRST. -
Eric Stokely, Mentor, Team 360; Fieldhouse Supervisor, FIRST
Washington; and former FIRST Tech Challenge Affiliate Partner;
from Belfair, WA, was the recipient of the Woodie Flowers Award,
founded by Dr. William P. Murphy Jr. to recognize an outstanding
engineer or teacher who best demonstrates teaching excellence in
teaching science, math, and creative design. -
Walt Disney Imagineering was the recipient of the Make It Loud Award,
presented by will.i.am, given to the person who has contributed the
most in increasing the awareness of FIRST to the general public. -
Maya Varma of FIRST Tech Challenge Team 5917, Acrobats, and FIRST
Robotics Competition Team 2135, Presentation Innovation, from
Cupertino, CA, received the FIRST Future Innovator Award
sponsored by the Abbott Fund for her Smartphone-Based System for
Diagnosis and Management of Pulmonary Illnesses.
2016 FIRST Championship Winners
The 2016 winners of the competitions are as follows:
Winners of the Dean’s List Award included:
From FIRST Robotics Competition:
- Brenden Barbour, Team 3284, Camdenton 4-H LASER, Camdenton, MO;
- Zarya DeSouza, Team 3494, Quadrangles, Bloomington, IN;
- Chenelle Foster, Team 5830, The Irrational Engineers, Lanham, MD;
- Mitchel Huang, Team 503, Frog Force, Novi, MI;
- Shikhar Jagadeesh, Team 846, The Funky Monkeys, San Jose, CA;
- Shanatanu Jakhete, Team 180, S.P.A.M., Stuart, FL;
- Brandon John, Team 3061, Huskie Robotics, Naperville, IL;
- Autumn Luna, Team 3250, Kennedy Robotics, Sacramento, CA;
- Shaqeeb Momen, Team 1241, THEORY6, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada;
- Jessa Westheimer, Team 118, Robonauts, League City, TX
From FIRST Tech Challenge:
- Andrew Dornbier, Team 7220, The Block Heads, Garner, IA;
- Colleen Johnson, Team 3595, Schrödinger’s Hat, Fairbanks, AK;
- Luz Moreno, Team 9547, Panthers, San Antonio, TX;
- Juwon Packer, Team 4886, RoboJunkies, Midland, TX;
- Knut Peterson, Team 7129, Robo Raiders,Troy, IL;
- Anshuman Radhakrishnan, Team 4855, Batteries in Black, Portland, OR;
- Sanjna Ravichandar, Team 6037, W.A.G.S., Princeton Junction, NJ;
- David Sargent, Team 5395, Team Clutch, Mustang, OK;
- Phoebe Spear, Team 6081, i2robotics, Westport, CT;
- Anika Yardi, Team 8121, RMageddon, Rockville, MD
1. FIRST® Robotics Competition
Championship – FIRST Robotics Competition combines sports
excitement with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict
rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams are challenged to
fundraise, design a brand, exercise teamwork, and build and program
robots to perform tasks against competitors.
Approximately 78,500 students on 3,140 teams from 24 countries competed
during the 2016 season.
-
The Winning Alliance of the FIRST Robotics Competition
Championship was Team 330, The Beach Bots, Hermosa Beach, CA; Team
2481, Roboteers, Tremont, IL; Team 120, Cleveland’s Team, Cleveland,
OH; and Team 1086, Blue Cheese, Glen Allen, VA of the Carver
Subdivision. -
Team 987 HIGHROLLERS, Las Vegas, NV, won the Chairman’s Award,
the highest honor given at the FIRST Robotics Competition
Championship, recognizing the team that best represents a model for
other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.
Other FIRST Robotics Competition Awards included:
-
Engineering Inspiration Award –
- Archimedes-Tesla Division: Team 3211 The Y Team, Yeruham D, Israel
-
Curie-Carver Division: Team 3990 Tech for Kids, Montreal, QC,
Canada - Galileo-Carson Division: Team 2468 Team Appreciate, Austin TX
-
Newton-Hopper Division: Team 1676 The Pascack PI-oneers, Montvale,
NJ
-
Jessica Boucher, FIRST Robotics Competition Chief Volunteer
Coordinator
Championship Finalists
Tesla Subdivision
- Team 2056, OP Robotics, Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada
- Team 1690, Orbit, Binyamina, HaZafon, Israel
- Team 3015, Ranger Robotics, Spencerport, NY
- Team 1405, Finney Falcons, Penfield, NY
2. FIRST® Tech Challenge World
Championship – FIRST Tech Challenge students learn to
think like engineers. Teams build robots from a reusable kit of parts,
develop strategies, document their progress, and compete head to head.
This year’s game, FIRST®
RES-QSM, is modeled after rescue situations faced by
mountain explorers. Two Alliances with two robots each score by
“resetting” rescue beacons, delivering rescue climbers to a shelter,
parking on the mountain, and parking in the rescue beacon repair zone or
floor goal.Approximately 51,500 students on 5,158 FIRST Tech Challenge teams
competed during the 2015/2016 season. The 2015/2016 FIRST Tech
Challenge Sponsors include Official Program Sponsor, Rockwell Collins;
Official IoT, CAD & Collaboration Software Sponsor, PTC; and Official
Control System Sponsor, Qualcomm.The FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Inspire Award,
recognizing excellence in robot design and teamwork, went to Team 7013
Hot Wired from Portland Oregon. The Winning Alliance was Team
5916, BoBots, Earleville, MD; Team 8221, CUBIX^3, Hampstead, MD; Team
6022, TBD-To Be Determined, Aurora, Ohio.The FIRST Tech Challenge Volunteer of the Year Award
winner was Mannie Lowe of Mississippi. The Compass Award for
excellence in coaching/mentoring was awarded to David Patterson. He was
nominated for this award by Team 3595, Schrödinger’s Hat, of Fairbanks,
Alaska.3. FIRST® LEGO® League
World Festival – FIRST LEGO League introduces younger
students to real-world engineering challenges by conducting research
projects and building LEGO-based autonomous robots to complete tasks on
a thematic playing surface. FIRST LEGO League teams,
guided by their imaginations, discover exciting career possibilities and
learn to make positive contributions to society. This year’s challenge, TRASH
TREKSM engaged 233,000+ kids on approximately 29,000
teams to explore the hidden world of trash, from collecting to sorting
to smart production and reuse.Top honors went to Champion’s Award 1st Place winner, Team 23,
The Incredibots, Columbus, Ohio; Champion’s Award Finalist, Team
22993, Mechatronic Ants, Pamplona, Spain; and Champion’s Award
Finalist, Team 23005, Tic Tac Toe, Beirut, Lebanon4. FIRST® LEGO® League Jr.
World Festival Expo – FIRST LEGO League Jr. introduces
children ages 6 to 9 to the exciting worlds of science and technology.
Teams of up to six children and two adult Coaches take on a real-world
Challenge, to be explored through research, critical thinking, and
imagination.In this year’s FIRST LEGO League Jr. Challenge, WASTE
WISESM, students learned that throwing something in the
trash is only the beginning. From reducing, to reusing, to recycling,
and beyond, teams found out what making trash really means.For a full list of FIRST Championship winners and awards, visit www.firstinspires.org.
2016 FIRST Championship Sponsors
Qualcomm is the 2016 FIRST Championship Presenting Sponsor.
2016 FIRST Champion Program Sponsors include: The Boeing
Company; BOSCH; Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD); FedEx
Corporation; Google; IBM; Monsanto; NRG Energy; U.S. Air Force; United
Technologies Corporation (UTC).Other 2016 FIRST Championship Sponsors include: Abbott
Fund; BAE Systems; Bechtel Corporation; Booz Allen Hamilton; The
Coca-Cola Company; Comcast NBCUniversal; CSC Charitable Foundation;
DaDaLeLe; Dr. William H. Danforth; Dice; The Dow Chemical Company;
Edward Jones; General Electric Company; Hilton St. Louis at the
Ballpark; Microsoft Corporation; Mouser Electronics; Nidec Motor
Corporation; NVIDIA Corporation; Southwest Airlines; SpaceX; St. Louis
Regional Chamber; St. Louis Union Station Hotel; UL; Vulcan Spring &
Mfg. Co.Save the date! The FIRST Championship will be held in:
Houston
April 19-22, 2017 and St. Louis April 26-29, 2017 | Houston April 18-21,
2018 and Detroit April 25-28, 2018About FIRST®
Accomplished inventor Dean
Kamen founded FIRST®
(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., FIRST designs accessible, innovative
programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while
motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology,
and engineering. With support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies
and more than $25 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit
organization hosts the FIRST®
Robotics Competition for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST®
Tech Challenge for Grades 7-12; FIRST®
LEGO® League for Grades 4-8; and FIRST®
LEGO® League Jr. for Grades K-3. Gracious
Professionalism® is a way of doing things that
encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and
respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST,
go to www.firstinspires.org.FIRST and the FIRST logo are registered trademarks of the
United States Foundation For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
Technology (FIRST). LEGO® is a registered trademark of
The LEGO Group.Contacts
FIRST®
Brooke Blew, 603-206-2048
bblew@firstinspires.org
or
Haley
Dunn, 603-206-2494
hdunn@firstinspires.org