With Kauffman support, FIRST Robotics has encouraged a number of Kansas City area high school students to apply math and science principles to design, assemble, and test robots capable of performing specific tasks. Without instructions and using only the materials provided to them, teams rely on resourcefulness and inventiveness to meet tight project deadlines.
In addition to supporting local teams, Kauffman worked with partners in the community to bring a regional Robotics competition to Kansas City. The fourth annual Greater Kansas City Regional Competition will be held at Hale Arena, March 4-6, 2010.
The goal of FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science and Technology) is to help young people recognize the opportunity, power, and joy of solving problems through science, technology, and engineering. Founded in 1989 by entrepreneur and inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST is a multinational nonprofit organization, that seeks to transform culture, making science, math, engineering, and technology as cool for kids as sports are today.
In 2010, 23 teams in the five-county Kansas City metropolitan area will participate in the program with support from the Kauffman Foundation. A record 60 robotics teams from high schools in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Colorado will compete in this year's Greater Kansas City Regional.
Teams have six weeks to prepare their robot for regional competitions throughout the United States and qualify for national honors. During the robotics competition, the student teams are judged on the process and teamwork they used to build the robot. Teams include volunteer mentors who are engineers, academics and parents of team members. In the Kansas City area, associates with a variety of corporate sponsors, including the Midwest Research Institute, Hallmark, General Motors, Ford, Harley-Davidson, H&R Block, and DeVry University offer mentoring and moral support to the teams.
Grants to the FIRST organization for its Robotics and LEGO League programs are part of the Kauffman Foundation objective to help the Greater Kansas City area become a national model for outstanding math, engineering, technology and science education.
Local Contact for FIRST Robotics: Bev White at lisakeel@kc.rr.com.