525 Robots Rule the Georgia Dome in Celebration of Science and Technology at Annual FIRST Championship, April 17-19.

More than 10,000 students combine sports and technology in three robotics competitions

ATLANTA -- Matching metal, intelligence, determination and team spirit in a series of robotic competitions, more than 10,000 students from 25 countries will compete in the ultimate "sport for the mind": the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, April 17-19, in Atlanta's Georgia Dome.

FIRST, a not-for-profit founded by inventor Dean Kamen, helps young people discover the excitement and rewards of education and careers in science and technology. The annual FIRST Championship, now in its seventeenth year, celebrates young people's efforts to work together on complex engineering assignments and solve real-world problems.

"FIRST is inspiring the next generation of innovators and engineers," said Kamen. "Years from now, some of these same students competing in the Georgia Dome will be inventing solutions to our society's most challenging problems."

The journey to the FIRST Championship began in September 2007, when thousands of FIRST students started honing their robotic design skills. In January 2008, aspiring young engineers in the FIRST Robotics Competition received this season's robot challenge, "FIRST Overdrive," along with a kit of parts -- but no instructions. Working with mentors, students had only six weeks to design, build, and test their robots.

Then it was time for March Madness: a series of FIRST Robotics Competition regional events held across the country and in Brazil, Canada and Israel. Approximately 1,500 teams comprised of 37,500 high school students from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and every state in the U.S., participated in 41 regional competitions in March and April.

From FIRST regional robotics competitions, more than 10,000 students have advanced to the FIRST Championship. Teams earned their invitations to the Championship by excelling in competitive play, sportsmanship, and the development of partnerships among schools, businesses, and communities.

Teams from three separate robotics competitions -- the FIRST Robotics Competition, the FIRST Tech Challenge and the FIRST LEGO([R]) League -- will take over the Georgia Dome's athletic field space, home to such legendary sporting events as the Olympics and NCAA's Final Four competitions.

FIRST follows a traditional sports model and each team will compete in matches designed for its level of play:

FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION

The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Championship for high school students is now in its seventeenth and largest-ever season. In this year's engineering challenge, "FIRST Overdrive," 344 robotics teams comprised of 8,600 students will put their carefully constructed robots to the test. The game tests students' engineering prowess, as their robots race around a track knocking down 40-inch inflated balls and moving them around the track, passing them over or under a 6-foot, 6-inch overpass.

FIRST TECH CHALLENGE

The Championship also features the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championship. FTC offers high-school students the challenge of a FIRST Robotics Competition, using a more accessible and affordable modular robotics kit. Approximately 1,000 students will compete in the "Quad Quandary" challenge, in which students' robots place 3-inch rings on movable single or paired goals, side goals or posts, and move goals around the field.

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE 

The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival for middle-school students features 800 students from the top 81 teams around the world. This year's FLL Challenge, "Power Puzzle," requires students to design, build, and program a LEGO MINDSTORMS([R]) robot that explores solar panels on houses, hydro-dams, wind turbines, and planting trees as sustainable options to meet our planet's growing energy needs in environmentally sound ways. FLL is an international program for students 9-14, created through a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998.

SCHOLARSHIPS

FIRST students are eligible for close to $10 million in scholarships from some of the finest science and engineering schools in the country. Twenty nine of our scholarship providers will be featured in "Scholarship Row," where representatives will be on hand to offer more information about their schools' or organizations' science and engineering programs as well as their support of FIRST.

ROBOTICS CONFERENCE

Championship attendees will have the opportunity to attend the 2008 FIRST Robotics Conference, April 16-17. The Conference features more than 40 presentations by experienced FIRST team members, college and university representatives, and professionals, covering a wide variety of topics in science, technology, engineering and robotics.

SPONSORS

Autodesk, Inc. is the Official Championship Sponsor of the 2008 FIRST Championship. Other FIRST Championship sponsors this year are: Abbott Laboratories; BAE Systems; The Coca-Cola Company; FedEx Corporation - FIRST Shipping Sponsor; NASA - Machine Shop and Satellite Broadcast Sponsor; Underwriters Laboratories - FIRST Safety Partner; Delphi Corporation - FIRST Hall of Fame Sponsor; Dassault Falcon Jet Corporation - FIRST Hospitality Center Sponsor; Association for Laboratory Automation - FIRST Judges Room & Dinner Sponsor; Lockheed Martin Corporation - FIRST Event Sponsor; Georgia Institute of Technology - FIRST Scholarship Row Sponsor; Central Intelligence Agency and Rolls-Royce - FIRST Robotics Conference Sponsors.

ABOUT FIRST

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, and engineering. With the support of many of the world's most well-known companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge for high-school students, the FIRST LEGO League for children 9-14 years old, and the Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.

Editor's Note: FRC practice matches will be held on Thursday, April 17, and competition matches will be held Friday, April 18, and Saturday, April 19. FLL and FTC matches will be held on Thursday and Friday. Beta video and digital photos of previous FIRST competitions are available on request.