RIT Hosting Finger Lakes Regional FIRST Robotics Competition, March 9-11

It’s the second one—but it’s still FIRST.

More than 2,000 participants and spectators are anticipated as Rochester Institute of Technology hosts the second annual Finger Lakes Regional FIRST Robotics Competition, March 9-11. The three-day competition pits teams of high school students, and the robots they built, against one another in a challenging, sports-style contest.

Thirty teams of high school students from across the Northeast United States and Canada, including 13 from the Rochester area, will compete in RIT’s Gordon Field House and Activities Center. They will be among more than 28,000 students—members of 1,125 teams from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, the U.K. and almost every U.S. state—participating in this year’s 33 regional competitions. Teams vie to advance to the national championship, April 27-29, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

FIRST competitions challenge participants to solve engineering design problems in fun contests involving remote-controlled robots designed, built and programmed by students and their mentors. FIRST—For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology—aims to inspire students to pursue studies and careers in science, technology and engineering. The competition was created in 1989 by Dean Kamen, the well-known inventor of the Segway Human Transporter.

“When the light bulb goes on, and students connect their classroom education with the excitement of FIRST, that’s what it’s all about,” says Edward Hensel, RIT professor and department head of mechanical engineering and a mentor to the Fairport High School FIRST team, sponsored by Gleason Corp.

“Last year, 100 percent of the students graduating from the Fairport/Gleason FIRST team went on to become freshmen in college engineering and science programs. This year, we’re on track for over 90 percent of our team’s high school seniors to enter engineering and science programs as college freshmen next fall. FIRST is clearly having a positive impact on our nation.”

This year’s opening ceremonies are slated for 9 a.m. Friday, March 10. Final rounds will be held 1-3 p.m. Saturday, March 11, followed by an awards ceremony at 3:15 p.m. March 11. All events are open to the public. For more information, visit http://www.firstrochester.org.

Sponsors of the Finger Lakes Regional FIRST Robotics Competition include by RIT, Xerox Corp., Bausch & Lomb Inc. and Rochester Business Journal.

Note: Rochester-area schools with teams participating in the 2006 Finger Lakes Regional FIRST Robotics Competition, March 9-11, at RIT include:

Churchville-Chili Senior High School
East High School
Fairport High School
Charles Finney High School
Bioscience and Health Careers High School at Franklin
Greece Arcadia/Greece Athena high schools
John Marshall High School
Palmyra-Macedon High School
Penfield High School
Rush-Henrietta Senior High School
Victor High School
Wilson Magnet High School
Webster Schroeder/Webster Thomas high schools