What is FIRST Robotics?

• Five years ago, George Mason High School enrolled in a robotics competition sponsored by FIRST, (For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology). FIRST is a prestigious organization founded over a decade and a half ago by Dean Kamen, an inductee into the Inventors' Hall of Fame and founder of DEKA Research and Development Corp. The goal of FIRST it to inspire high school students to pursue careers in engineering and the sciences.
• Their largest program, the FIRST Robotics Competition, challenges high school students to build large and complex machines to participate in a sophisticated and highly competitive game, which is unique each year
• Every year in January, a description of that year's game is given to teams across they country. Those teams then have 6 short weeks to construct a robot that will participate in a regional competition and, hopefully, go on to compete at the national level.
• Every team is given a basic kit for robot construction with the $6,000 entrance fee. It is possible to construct and field a basic robot from this kit. However, it is desirable to have extra money to buy special parts for individual designs. If a team wants to build a competitive robot, specialized parts and plenty of raw materials are essential.

What can you do to help?

• Our number one goal at the beginning of the school year is to raise money. The minimum entrance fee is $6,000. Entering our robot in an additional regional tournament or attending the national competition requires an additional entrance fee of $5,000. These cost do not include other likely necessities such as extra building materials and supplies, or the cost of traveling and accommodations at the tournaments. Our team has gone to the national competition twice.
• Donations of time and skill are also needed. We also welcome any guidance you might contribute to the initial design process, as well as help with the fabrication of some of the more complex parts the team chooses to build.
• We seek working partnerships with local companies that are related to engineering and the sciences. It is important to our team that students build their own designs, but they need help with logistics, organization, and in learning how others solve similar problems in the real world of industry.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is a challenging competition that is well suited to motivated high school students. FIRST has designed a program that allows a fair level playing field for all the participants, and effectively introduces the kind of design problems these students would likely face in a career in engineering. Fielding a competitive robot is a significant accomplishment, and deserving of the full support of our school community.

If you are interested in sponsoring Team 1418, please send us an email at sponsorship@team1418.org.

Please also feel free to visit the FIRST website.