What's FIRST?

FIRST is an acronym that stands for "For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology". FIRST is an organization founded by Dean Kamen in 1989 in order to develop ways to excite students about engineering and technology. The first event was the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), which is designed to inspire high school students to become engineers by giving them real world experience to develop a robot. The inaugural FIRST RObotics Competition was held in 1992.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is the premiere competition held by FIRST. As of 2006, 2,000 high school teams, totalling over 28,000 students from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom and more, competed to build 100-130 poundrobots that could complete a certain task, which changes every year during kick off. Teams are given a standard set of parts and the game details at the begining of January and are given six weeks to construct a competitive robot that could accomplish the game's task. Teams compete in 33 regional competitions over several weeks in March to try and qualify for the championship event in Atlanta, Georgia in April.

Gracious Professionalism is part of the ethos of FIRST. It's a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizers the value of others, and respects indvisuals and the community. With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gainare not seperate notions. Gracious Professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest thumping talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes of knowledge, Competition and Empathy are comfortably blended.

In the long run, Gracious Professionalism is part of pursuing a meaningful life. One can add to society and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing one has acted with integrity and sensitivity. FIRST redefines winning for these students. Teams are rewarded for excellence in design, demonstrated team spirit, Gracious Professionalism and maturity and ablility to overcome obstacles. Scoring the most points is a secondary goal. Winning means building partnerships that last and most importantly, Teamwork!