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Buckeye Regional FIRST Robotics Competition Kicks Off Jan. 4

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NASA

Dec 30, 2013
MEDIA ADVISORY13-042

The 2014 Buckeye Regional FIRST Robotics Competition kickoff marks the beginning of the season for high school students to design and build a robot to compete in a tournament against a field of competitors. Teams have the opportunity to learn the game, pick up a Kit of Parts and get geared up for the exciting competition season.

NASA, the largest sponsor of the Buckeye Regional FIRST Robotics Competition, will broadcast the kickoff for over 100 local students at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, at Cuyahoga Community College, Unified Technologies Center. The event will air nationwide on NASA Television from Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester.

FIRST, or For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is a long-standing challenge to inspire curiosity and create interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics among high school students. The event gives students the opportunity to design and compete a robot that can perform specific functions. FIRST also gives students a crucial mentoring experience with professionals, who help them explore solutions to robotics problems and understand real-world challenges faced by engineers and researchers.

During the broadcast, FIRST founder Dean Kamen and designers of the annual challenge will reveal the competition scenario for 2014. This kicks off a six-week design and building frenzy for more than 2,000 teams, or 50,000 students and engineering mentors, in this year’s competition.

Each year, FIRST presents a new robotics competition scenario with twists and nuances to challenge both rookie and veteran teams. Each team receives a kit of parts (a common set of parts) and has six weeks to construct a robot based on the team’s interpretation of the game scenario. Other than dimension, weight and safety restrictions, the look and function of the robots is up to each individual team.

After six weeks of building, programming and testing robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of players, students will compete at the Buckeye Regional FIRST Robotics Competition, March 20-22, at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

This year, 22 teams are registered to attend the kickoff:

  1. Amherst Steele High School

Amherst, Ohio

  1. Avon High School

Avon, Ohio

  1. Avon Lake High School

Avon Lake, Ohio

  1. Beachwood High School

Beachwood, Ohio

  1. Berea Midpark High School

Berea, Ohio

  1. Canfield High School

Canfield, Ohio

  1. Cardinal Mooney High School

Youngstown, Ohio

  1. Charles F. Brush High School

Cleveland, Ohio

  1. EHOVE Career Center

Milan, Ohio

  1. Erie School District

Erie, Pa.

  1. Girard High School

Girard, Ohio

  1. Hathaway Brown High School

Shaker Heights, Ohio

  1. Highland High School

Medina, Ohio

  1. Lorain High School

Lorain, Ohio

  1. MC2STEM High School

Cleveland, Ohio

  1. North Canton City School’s Hoover

North Canton, Ohio

  1. North Olmsted High School

North Olmsted, Ohio

  1. Orange High School

Pepper Pike, Ohio

  1. Parma Community High School

Parma, Ohio

  1. Revere Local School

Richfield, Ohio

  1. St. Edward High School

Lakewood, Ohio

  1. St. Ignatius High School

Cleveland, Ohio

NASA Glenn engineers and scientists participate with many of these teams as technical participants and mentors to the students. Through these mentoring activities, Glenn engineers are able to directly share their expertise and experiences with the nation’s next generation of technical leaders.

This year, 54 regional competitions will take place across the country, along with four additional international competitions in March and April. The FIRST Championship competition will be held in St. Louis, Mo. April 23-26.

The program was founded in 1989 by Kamen to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools and communities. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST is a non-profit organization that designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue academic opportunities.

News media wishing to attend the kickoff at the Unified Technologies Center should contact Jeannette Owens to register at (216) 433-2990 by 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 3.

For additional information about FIRST, visit:

http://www.usfirst.org

For the NASA Television downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information on NASA and agency programs on the web, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov

-end-

Jeannette P. Owens
Media Relations Office
216-433-2990
Jeannette.P.Owens@nasa.gov