CLEVELAND — NASA Television will broadcast the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition kickoff event on Saturday, Jan. 8, from 9 a.m. to noon. The broadcast will be aired at Cuyahoga Community College, Unified Technologies Center (UTC), 2415 Woodland Avenue, Cleveland.
FIRST is a program designed to help students discover how interesting and rewarding a career in engineering and science can be by giving them real world experience working with engineers to build a functioning robot in six weeks.
During the live broadcast, which originates from Manchester, N.H., Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transporter and founder of FIRST, will reveal this year’s robotics competition for thousands of high school students across America. More than 100 students are expected to attend this year’s event at UTC.
The Saturday kickoff marks the beginning of the design and build season. Students will have the opportunity to meet with peers from other schools to compare notes, get ideas, make friends, find mentoring teams, pick up the kits needed to build a functioning robot, and gear up for the Buckeye Regional Robotics Competition, scheduled for April 7-9, 2011.
The schools attending the kickoff are:
Amherst Steele High School Amherst
Austintown Fitch High School Austintown
Beachwood High School Beachwood
Bedford High School Bedford
Berea High School Berea
Brush High School Lyndhurst
Chaney High School Youngstown
Cleveland Metropolitan School District Cleveland
East Technical High School Cleveland
EHOVE Career Center Milan
Erie School District Erie, Pa.
Girard High School Girard
Hathaway Brown High School Shaker Heights
Highland High School Medina
Lorain High School Lorain
Mc2STEM High School Cleveland
Midpark High School Middleburg Heights
Orange Schools Pepper Pike
St. Edward High School Lakewood
St. Ignatius High School Cleveland
Media representatives are invited to the kickoff, and are welcome to follow a team during the next six weeks as students work side-by-side with professional engineers and technicians, parents and teachers to build a robot.
Reporters interested in tracking a team should contact Jeannette Owens at 216-433-2990.
For the NASA Television downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For additonal information about FIRST, visit: http://www.usfirst.org
For more information on the Buckeye Regional FIRST Robotics Competition, visit: http://www.oai.org/firstbuckeye/index.htm
For more information on NASA and agency programs on the web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov
