NASA Kicks Off 2011 Nationwide First Robotics Competition

FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology,
is a long-standing challenge to inspire curiosity and create interest
in science, technology, engineering and mathematics among high school
students. The event gives students the opportunity to design, build,
test and compete a robot that can perform specific functions. FIRST
also gives students a crucial mentoring experience with NASA
professionals, who help them explore solutions to robotics problems
and understand real-world challenges faced by engineers and researchers.

During the live broadcast, FIRST founder Dean Kamen and designers of
the annual challenge will reveal the competition scenario for 2011.
This kicks off a six-week design and building frenzy for an estimated
30,000 students and engineering mentors comprising the nearly 2,000
teams in this year's competition.

Each year, FIRST presents a new robotics competition scenario with
twists and nuances to challenge both rookie and veteran teams. Each
team receives a kit of parts and has six weeks to design and build a
robot based on the team's interpretation of the game scenario. Other
than dimension and weight restrictions, the look and function of the
robots is up to each individual team.

NASA plays a significant role by providing public access to robotics
programs to encourage young people to investigate careers in the
sciences and engineering. Through the NASA Robotics Alliance Project,
the agency provides grants for 297 teams and sponsors four regional
student competitions, including a new FIRST regional competition in
Washington, D.C. NASA engineers and scientists participate with many
of these teams as technical participants and mentors to the students.
Through these mentoring activities, NASA engineers are able to
directly share their expertise and experiences to the nation's next
generation of technical leaders.

This year, 45 regional competitions will take place across the
country, along with four additional international competitions in
March and April. The FIRST Championship competition will be held in
St. Louis in April.

The program was founded in 1989 by Kamen to inspire an appreciation of
science and technology in young people, their schools and
communities. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST is a non-profit
organization that designs accessible, innovative programs to build
self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young
people to pursue academic opportunities.
For more information about NASA's Robotics Alliance Project, visit:

http://robotics.nasa.gov

For more information about the FIRST Robotics Competition and a
listing of competing teams, visit:

http://www.first.org

For NASA TV streaming video and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Source: NASA

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