High school students from 28 Dallas/Fort Worth area schools, including The Jack Singley Academy in Irving, three states and Mexico will have the opportunity to showcase their hard work after an intense six weeks of designing and building an original robot in the FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (www.usfirst.org). From April 7 – 9 at the Dallas Convention Center, 52 teams of students and engineering and technical mentors will demonstrate their skill for science, mathematics and technology. They will compete for honors and recognition that reward design excellence, competitive play, sportsmanship, and high-impact partnerships between schools, businesses, and communities.
The Dallas Regional competition will feature special guests including FIRST founder Dean Kamen who introduced the IBOT Mobility System and the Segway® Human Transporter (HT), and Dr. Vandi Verma, NASA Scientist on the Mars Project. Dr. Verma’s current interests include working on flight operations for the Mars Exploration Rovers and the development of the Mars Science Laboratory flight mission.
FIRST Robotics Competition Dallas Regional sponsors and volunteers come from some of the most highly regarded organizations in the area, including title sponsor jcpenney, lead sponsor Lockheed Martin, The Greater Texas Foundation, the J. Paul Grayson Foundation, Raytheon, Siemens, and DeVry University. Sponsors provide resources including time and talent from professional mentors, services, equipment, financial contributions, and volunteers.
This is the third season of the Dallas Regional which has become the fastest growing FIRST Robotics Competition and one of the top three largest in the country. More than 1,300 students will compete at the Dallas Regional this year.
“The FIRST Robotics Dallas Regional is a tremendous event. In addition to it being the fastest growing one in the U.S. because of increasing school, mentor, student and community involvement, the competition is supported by the state, and local Fortune 500 and leading global companies,” said John Shellene, regional director for North Texas FIRST. “Together, we are making a difference for current and future generations of Texans by advancing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and encouraging learning and career paths in these growing and competitive fields.”
Over a six week timeframe, students work with professional engineering Mentors to design a robot that solves a problem using a Kit of Parts and a standard set of rules. Once these young inventors create the robot, their teams participate in regional competitions that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the power of collaboration, and the determination of students. In this year’s robotics game, “LOGO MOTION™, two alliances of three teams will compete on a 27-by-54-foot field with poles, attempting to earn points by hanging as many triangle, circle, and square logo pieces as possible. Bonus points will be earned for each robot that can hang and assemble logo pieces to form the FIRST logo. Robots can also deploy Mini-Bots to climb vertical poles for a chance to earn additional points.
This season, participating FIRST students are eligible to apply for more than $14 million in scholarships from leading universities and colleges. Scholarship announcements will be made at the FIRST National Championships April 27 – 30 in St. Louis, Mo.
ABOUT 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 three out of every five Fortune 500 companies and more than $14 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC® ) and FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC® ) for high-school students, FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL® ) for 9 to 14-year-olds, (9 to 16-year-olds outside the U.S. and Canada) and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL™) for 6 to 9-year-olds. 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.usfirst.org.
