More than 7,000 Students Compete in Largest-Ever FIRST Robotics Competition Championship; High School Students Master the Combination of Sport and Technology.

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ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2004

Four high school teams emerged from nearly 300 to win top honors at the 2004 FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, April 15-17.

Team 254, the "Cheesy Poofs," from Bellarmine College Preparatory school in San Jose, Calif., won the highest honor, The FIRST Chairman's Award, which recognizes the team that best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST. The Winning Alliance of the overall competition was Team 71, "B.E.A.S.T." from Clark, Gavit, Hammond and Morton High Schools, Hammond, Ind.; Team 435, "Robodogs" from Southeast Raleigh High School, Raleigh, N.C.; and Team 494, "Martians" from Goodrich High School, Goodrich, Mich.

FIRST also announced more than $4.6 million in scholarships from 46 leading universities, colleges and companies.

"From designing and building their robots to competing in the Championship, these teams have met major challenges and succeeded," said inventor Dean Kamen, who founded FIRST. "Through the fun and intensity of competition, they've discovered the rewards of education and careers in science and technology."

FIRST was created to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. The FIRST Robotics Competition brings together high school students, mentors, parents and volunteers. High school students and technical mentors work as a team to design and build a robot that solves a problem using a common "kit of parts" and a standard set of rules.

This year, teams competed with their robots in "FIRST Frenzy: Raising the Bar." The game consisted of remote-controlled robots racing around the playing field collecting balls and passing them to human players, who then attempted to shoot them into fixed and moveable goals. Teams could earn extra points by successfully maneuvering their robot to hang from a 10-foot high bar at mid-field. When the robots were completed, teams then had to compete in any number of the 26 FIRST regional events in an attempt to win a place in Atlanta.

Some of the other major honors that were awarded on Saturday evening included:

-- The Founder's Award, presented each year by FIRST Founder Dean

Kamen to one organization or individual for exceptional

service in advancing the ideals and mission of FIRST --

Federal Express

-- The Woodie Flowers Award, presented by SMALL PARTS, Inc., to

an outstanding engineer or teacher participating in the

competition who best demonstrates excellence in teaching

science, math and creative design -- David Kelso, Manchester,

New Hampshire 

-- Engineering Inspiration Award -- Team 812, "The Midnight

Mechanics," The Preuss School at UCSD, San Diego, California 

-- Autodesk Visualization Award -- Team 955, "Crescent Valley

Robotics," Crescent Valley High School, Corvallis, Oregon

-- Autodesk Inventor Award -- Team 342, "The Burning Magnetos,"

Summerville High School and Fort Dorchester High School, North

Charleston, South Carolina 

-- Autodesk Rising Star Award -- Team 1489, The Roeper School,

Birmingham, Michigan

-- Daimler Chrysler Team Spirit -- Team 1241, "Theory6 -- The

Hansen Experience of Robotic Youth," Rick Hansen Secondary

School, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

-- Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Judges Award -- Team

33, "Killer Bees," Notre Dame Preparatory, Auburn Hills,

Michigan

-- General Motors Industrial Design Award -- Team 303, "Panther

Robotics," Bridgewater-Raritan High School and Midland School,

North Branch, New Jersey

-- Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship -- Team 494, "Martians,"

Goodrich High School, Goodrich, Michigan

-- Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers Entrepreneurship -- Team 301,

"P.R.O.B.O.T.S," Dearborn High School, Dearborn, Michigan

-- Motorola Quality Award -- Team 494, "Martians," Goodrich High

School, Goodrich, Michigan

-- Xerox Creativity -- Team 190, "Gompei and the H.E.R.D,"

Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science, Worcester,

Massachusetts

-- Rookie Inspiration Award -- Team 1422, "AU-BOT," CART, Clovis,

California

-- Rookie All Star Award -- Team 1414, "IHOT," Atlanta

International School, Atlanta, Georgia

In conjunction with the FIRST Robotics Competition, 48 teams from six countries competed in the FIRST LEGO(R) League Invitational. The theme was Mission Mars, and students were challenged to research and design robots to accomplish tasks similar to NASA's rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Some of the honors awarded on Saturday included:

-- Director's Award -- Team 63, "Mindstorms Mayhem," New

Hampshire

-- Teamwork Award -- Team 3764, "Red Shadow," Rhode Island 

-- Performance Award -- Team 25, "Martian Exchange Students,"

Wisconsin

-- Robust Design Award -- Team 25, "Martian Exchange Students,"

Wisconsin

-- Innovative Design Award -- Team 1423, "O.R.E.O," Illinois

-- Programming Design Award -- Team 1700, "Boulder Beasts,"

Oregon

-- Research Quality Award -- Team 327, "Pioneer 327," Arizona

-- Innovative Research Award -- Team 1413, "Crater Crawlers,"

Kentucky

-- Creative Research Presentation Award -- Team 1128, "LEGO

Images," East Pennsylvania

For a complete listing of awards, match results and scholarship winners, please visit the FIRST website at www.usfirst.org.

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 non-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition for high school students and the FIRST LEGO(TM) League for children 9-14 years old. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.

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