By Andy Choi
The Motorola Mobility Foundation had sponsored some teams this year for the FIRST Robotics Competition. The For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology robotics competition was founded by Dean Kamen to help inspire young students to become science and technology leaders.
The FIRST Robotics Competition is an annual event that sees students from K-12 from around the world participate in scientific thinking, designing and building robots that then compete against one another at various events. The non-profit organization has undertaken impact studies showing that FIRST participants are seven times more likely to study engineering during college than the U.S. average, and twice as likely to choose computer science as their major.
Eileen Sweeney, director of the Motorola Mobility Foundation, said the foundation is continuing its long-standing legacy of support for FIRST Robotics Competition by sponsoring the six regional competitions which provide thousands of students with the opportunity to compete and showcase their hard work. She added that they were proud to be part of this important program that motivates young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.
This year the 52,000 high school students that participated were given six weeks to create the robot to perform the competitive functions from a common kit of parts given by FIRST. Of the 2,075 teams that participated 352 were selected to compete in the championship which included three of the teams sponsored by Motorola Mobility Foundation.