What FIRST is
FIRST ("For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology") is an intellectual organization that inspires an interest in young people for science, technology, engineering, and math.
FIRST was founded by Dean Kamen, a well known inventor and advocate of science and technology. When Mr. Kamen founded FIRST, he established two main principles that have guided FIRST in all it does:
- The FIRST Vision: "To create a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes"
- Gracious Professionalism: "A way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process."
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What FIRST does
FIRST organizes and hosts five programs for people of all different ages. These programs are getting more and more people involved in science and technology.
FIRST Robotics, a division of FIRST, is a high school robotics league that involves over 100,000 high school students from across the world in an annual robotics competition.
Each season starts the very first weekend of January at the Kick Off where over a thousand participating high school teams learn the new year's challenge. With the help of over 60,000 volunteers, 2,000 corporations, from 7 countries (Brazil, Canada, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, U.K., & U.S.A.), these teams build robots in 6 weeks from a common kit of parts provided by FIRST and include boundaries such as weight and height limits. These students participate using not only science and technology skills, but also cooperation, self-confidence, and life skills to build about 10,000 robots that compete at 37 regional events in Brazil, Canada, Israel, and the United States. This entertaining and innovative organization was created to help motivate people to pursue education and career opportunities while gaining the experience of dealing with focused brainstorming, real-world teamwork, dedicated mentoring and project deadlines.
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FIRST's impact
FIRST is having a tremendous impact on high school students throughout the world. By interesting more and more kids in science and technology, and giving them an incredible opportunity to use and improve their skills, FIRST is helping to build a better future for everyone.
In fact, FIRST's impact on students was measured by a group from Brandeis University. They compared FIRST students to non-FIRST students, and found that:
- FIRST students are nearly 2 times as likely to attend college and get a post-graduate degree.
- FIRST students are more than 2 times as likely to major in science or engineering and have a career in science and technology.
- FIRST students are almost 10 times as likely to have an internship or a co-op job in their freshman year of college.
- FIRST students are more than 2 times as likely to volunteer for community service.
Learn more about FIRST's impact & the Brandeis University study...
Upcoming Events
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Support The Team!
Buy chain-links from our team members to support Team 102!
We are conducting a "Links to Atlanta" fundraiser. All the members of the team are selling orange chain-links for $1 each. When you buy one, you get your name on the chain-link. Our goal is to get enough chains to make a link around the school.
