CT FIRST(r) Robotics Competition Kickoff

Connecticut FIRST® Kicks Off FIRST ® Robotics Competition 2012 This Saturday January 7, 9:30 a.m. to Noon at Farmington High School

One of 74 Regional Kickoffs Worldwide

Inventor Dean Kamen and National Luminaries To Simultaneously Kick Off FIRST® 2012 Robotics Season in Manchester, N.H.

Teams Will Participate Through NASA-TV Broadcast & Webcast

What’s Happening in Connecticut (state kickoff)

Thirty-five FIRST ® Robotics Competition (FRC) high school teams from around Connecticut will gather this Saturday, January 7 from 9:30 a.m. to noon at Farmington High School, 10 Monteith Drive, Farmington, Conn. 06032 to kick off the 2012 season. The student teams will be shown the 2012 robotics game field and challenge for the first time.

Teams will also receive an exciting new kit of parts made up of motors, batteries, a control system, and a mix of automation components – but no instructions. Teams will have six weeks to design and build robots to meet this year’s engineering challenge.

Connecticut’s 42 FRC teams are among 2,355 teams (nearly 60,000 high-school students) participating in this season’s competition at 68 Regional and District events around the country.

Photo/Video Opportunities:

During the Farmington High School kickoff event, FIRST® will unveil the details of the new 2012 robotics competition game during a NASA TV broadcast and web cast live beginning 10:30 a.m. from the national kick off in New Hampshire. Photos may also be taken of Connecticut FRC team members receiving their parts kits.

Photos of previous FIRST competitions are available at the Online FRC Photo Gallery

Photos of the January 7 event in Farmington will be available by contacting Jenny Smith (CT) at jennys1360@att.net.

What’s Happening in New Hampshire

(national kickoff via NASA-TV broadcast and Webcast beginning at 10:30 a.m.)

FIRST ® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) will be joined by public figures to launch the 2012 season of the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) with a worldwide kickoff event originating from Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H.

FIRST teams will tune in via NASA-TV broadcast and Web cast from 74 Kickoffs. Access the NASA webcast via link from www.usfirst.org News & Headlines section. To locate teams in your area, visit www.usfirst.org and click on the “What FIRST Teams & Events Are In My Area” block in the top right corner. For a listing of local Kickoff locations around the country, visit  http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/local-kickoff-information.

Dignitaries and public figures from across the nation will deliver remarks on video and in person, including (in order of appearance):

• Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report
• Jon Dudas, FIRST President
• Former President, George W. Bush
• Walt Havenstein, FIRST Chairman
• Chairman’s Award video by FIRST Team 359, Hawaii
• Former President, Bill Clinton
• Dr. Woodie Flowers, FIRST National Advisor
• Scholarship video by Jean Zheng, Stephen Hall, Yale University
• Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
• Dean Kamen, FIRST Founder & President of DEKA Research & Development Corp.
• Kate Pilotte, Collin Fultz, FIRST Kit of Parts Engineers
• Aneesh Chopra, White House CTO
• Alex Kipman, General Manager, Hardware Incubation, Xbox, Microsoft Corp.
• Charlie Bolden, NASA Administrator
• Jim Heppelmann, CEO, PTC
• FRC Game Design Committee Introductions
• Bill Miller, Director, FIRST Robotics Competition
• Team Safety Animation winner, FIRST Team 3705 Arrowbots
• Dr. Aidan Browne, Chief Referee, FRC
• will.i.am, Grammy-award winning artist/producer and Director of Creative Innovation, Intel
• and other Special Guests 

About FIRST ®

Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an annual competition that challenges high-school students – working alongside professional Mentors – to design and build a robot of their own, and compete in a ‘ Sport for the Mind™’ that measures the effectiveness of each robot, the power of teamwork and collaboration, and Gracious Professionalism™. Students build and program their own robots against a field of competitors and experience the excitement of science, engineering, technology and innovation. www.usfirst.org.

About Connecticut FIRST®

As part of FIRST®, an international organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, Connecticut FIRST®  inspires young people ages 6-18 across Connecticut to be science and technology leaders through mentor-based programs supported by the state’s leading corporations, that build science, engineering and technology skills, inspire innovation, and foster self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

Young people in Connecticut FIRST® programs master science and technology concepts through robotics, while gaining valuable career and life skills that carry them to higher education and to science, technology, engineering and math professions.

Connecticut FIRST® programs are for students from Kindergarten through middle and high-school.
 •  FIRST ® Junior LEGO® League (Jr.FLL®) for Grades K-3 (ages 6-8)
 •  FIRST ® LEGO® League (FLL®) for Grades 4-8 (ages 9-14)
 •  FIRST ® Tech Challenge (FTC®) for Grades 7-12 (ages 13-18)
 •  FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) for Grades 9-12 (ages 15-18)

Students can join at any level based on their grade. Involvement and intensity increases as students progress through the various programs.

For more information or to get involved as a team, sponsor or mentor, contact Susan Glasspiegel, FIRST® Regional Director, sglasspiegel@gmail.com, 860.651.9994.

-0-