Robots Rule the Georgia Dome in Celebration of Science and Technology at Annual FIRST...

Robots Rule the Georgia Dome in Celebration of Science and Technology at Annual FIRST Championship

Inventor Dean Kamen Recognizes Best of Young Robotics Competitors;
Former President George Bush Asks FIRST Students to Use Innovation to
Solve Societal Problems
ATLANTA--(Business Wire)--
Three teams from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, Greenville,
Texas, and Sterling Heights, Michigan emerged victorious at the FIRST
(For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)
Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta this weekend, as one
winning alliance. It was the climax to months of competition involving
more than 1,500 teams from the United States and seven other nations:
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United
Kingdom.

FIRST is a not-for-profit founded by inventor Dean Kamen. The
public charity offers innovative programs that motivate young people
to pursue opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math
while building life skills. Teams earned their invitations to the
Championship by excelling in competitive play, sportsmanship, and the
development of partnerships among schools, businesses and communities.

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

Former President George H. W. Bush echoed Kamen's beliefs during
Opening Ceremonies on Friday, April 18. He reminisced about attending
the inaugural FIRST Championship sixteen years ago and recognized
Kamen for fostering young people's aspirations in science and
technology.

Governor Sonny Perdue of Georgia also addressed the crowd of
budding engineers on Friday, and Governor Linda Lingle also attended
the FIRST Championship to support six teams from Hawaii. In the past
year, FIRST teams in Lingle's state have grown from four to 26. During
today's Championship, Team 359 "Hawaiian Kids" from Waialua, Hawaii
won the Engineering Inspiration Award and Team 368 "TKM.368 (Team Kika
Mana) from Honolulu, Hawaii was a Division Finalist.

FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION

The Winning Alliance of the FIRST Robotics Competition
Championship was: Team 148 "Robowranglers" of Greenville High School
from Greenville, Texas; Team 217 "ThunderChickens" of Utica Community
Schools from Sterling Heights, Michigan; Team 1114 "Simbotics" of
Governor Simcoe Secondary School from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

Student teams built their robots from a kit of hundreds of parts.
This year's game, called "FIRST Overdrive," tested students and their
robots' ability race around a track knocking down 40" inflated
Trackballs and moving them around the track, passing them either over
or under a 6'6" overpass.

Team 842 "Falcon Robotics" of Carl Hayden High School from
Phoenix, Arizona won the prestigious FIRST Robotics Competition
Championship Chairman's Award, recognized as the team that best
represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the
purpose and goals of FIRST.

FIRST TECH CHALLENGE

Approximately 1,000 high-school students used a modular robotics
kit to compete in the "Quad Quandary" challenge, in which students'
robots placed 3-inch rings on goals and moved goals around the field.
The FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship Inspire Award, recognizing
excellence in robot design and teamwork, went to Team 801 "Panteras"
from Mexico City, Mexico.

The FIRST Tech Challenge Winning Alliance was Team 23 "Beach
Cities Robotics" from Torrance, California; Team 30 "Mr. T" from
Montville, New Jersey; and Team 74 "Team Overdrive" from Bridgewater,
New Jersey.

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE

Eighty one teams from around the world participated in the FIRST
LEGO League (FLL) World Festival. This year's "Power Puzzle" real-life
challenge tasked students, ages 9 to 14, to design, build, and program
robots to explore sustainable options to meet our planet's growing
energy needs in environmentally sound ways. Top honors went to
Champion's Award 1st Place winner, Team 8095 "External Fusion" from
Singapore; Champion's Award 2nd Place winner, Team 2560 "Pixelation"
from North Branch, Minnesota; and Champion's Award 3rd Place winner,
Team 334 "Power Peeps" from Swartz Creek, Michigan. The Champion's
Award measures how teams inspire and motivate others about the
excitement and wonders of science and technology, while demonstrating
gracious professionalism.

SCHOLARSHIPS

FIRST also recognized the recipients of numerous educational
scholarships worth nearly $10 million from the most prestigious
science and engineering schools in the country, such as Georgia
Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute, and Purdue University.

RESULTS

For a complete listing of awards and match results, please visit
www.usfirst.org/pressroom.

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.

Cone for FIRST
Maureen O'Connell, 617-939-8330
moconnell@coneinc.com
or
FIRST
Marian Murphy, 603-666-3906, ext. 409
Communications Manager
mmurphy@usfirst.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008