And the winners are...

EXCITEMENT, CHEERS AND ENTHUSIASM WRAPS UP ANOTHER FIRST ROBOTICS COMPETITION


MANCHESTER, N.H. – “It’s not about the robot, it’s about the future and the need to solve the world’s problems for the next century,” said Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST during the last day of competition at the 7th annual Granite State Regional FIRST Robotics competition held Feb. 26 - 28 at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H.

Kamen added there’s no better activity to channel student time, energy, and passion to learn about science and technology. At the same time, he said, FIRST gives students experience in the skills to enter the work force in engineering, management, manufacturing, health care, or thousands of other options.

The Granite State Regional, sponsored by BAE Systems, brings more than 1,500 students and their mentors together in a competition that emphasizes teamwork, innovation and strategy. In early January, teams received a challenge to design, develop and build a robot in six weeks using a common parts list. The robots are then competed in randomly selected alliances, performing a variety of tasks for scoring points.

The following teams received awards at today’s event:
• The 2009 Granite State FIRST Regional Robotics Champions are:
Team #121 Middleton, Portsmouth, Tiverton & Mount Hope High Schools, Newport County, Rhode Island
Team #175 Enrico Fermi High School, South Portland, Connecticut
Team #2621 Bedford High School, Bedford, Massachusetts
• The 2009 Granite State FIRST Regional Robotics Finalists are:
Team #20 Shenendehowa High School, Clifton Park, New York
Team #40 Trinity High School, Manchester, New Hampshire
Team#885 Randolph Union High School, Randolph, Vermont
The final day of competition ended with several teams receiving special awards.
• The most prestigious award, the Regional Chairman’s Award, was presented to Team #1519, Milford Area Youth Homeschoolers Enriching Minds, Milford, N.H. for encouraging the best partnership effort among team participants and best exemplifying the true meaning of FIRST.
• The Judges Award for Creative Application in Mechanical Design went to Team #1729, Wapack Youth Robotics/4-H, Peterborough, N.H.
• The Judges Award for a Job Well Done and Team Spirit was awarded to Team #571, Windsor and MLC High School, Windsor, Conn.
• Team # 172, Falmouth and Gorham High Schools, Maine, won the Chrysler Team Spirit Award, celebrating extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork.
• Team #121, Middletown, Portsmouth, Tiverton & Mount Hope High Schools, Newport County, Rhode Island, was selected as the winner of this year’s General Motors Industrial Design Award, celebrating the robot’s form and function to achieve the game’s challenge.
• Team #20, Shenendehowa High School, Clifton Park, N.Y., was selected as the winner of this year’s Motorola Quality Award, celebrating machine robustness in concept and fabrication.
• Team #58, South Portland High School, South Portland, Maine, was selected as the winner of this year’s Johnson & Johnson Gracious Professional Award, celebrating outstanding sportsmanship and gracious professionalism, both on and off the playing field.
• Team #133, Bonny Eagle High School, Standish, Maine, was selected as the winner of Underwriters Laboratories Industrial Safety Award for progressing beyond safety fundamentals by using innovative ways to eliminate or protect against hazards.
• Team #1138, Chaminade College Preparatory, West Hills, Calif., was selected as the winner of this year’s Engineering Inspiration Award, celebrating a team’s success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community.
• This year’s Rookie All-Star Award and Rookie Seed Award was presented to Team #3074, New School High School, Kennebunk, Maine, for their success in exemplifying a young but strong partnership effort to inspire students to learn more about science and technology.
This year’s challenge, “LunacyTM,” asks teams to design a robot, within specifications, that operates on a low-friction playing field, picking up and delivering balls to an opposing robot’s trailer. Performance is measured by the total number of balls in the opponent’s trailer following timed rounds at regional and championship competitions.

FIRST – For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology – designs accessible and innovative programs for young people to help build their self-confidence, knowledge and life skills. The programs seek to motivate students to pursue careers in science, technology and engineering.