FIRST Robotics Competition
FIRST ("For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology") is a New Hampshire-based, non-profit organization aimed at inspiring young people to develop an interest in science and engineering through competitions and other educational experiences. Regional coordinator for FIRST, Lucia Sevcik, says the organization works to give children hands-on experience with engineering professionals and job functions. The group wants to take students beyond lessons learned in textbooks and school labs and into the innovative and exciting world of engineering.

The ten-year-old organization produces an annual Robotics Competition that immerses high school students in design, engineering and technology through the development of a robot to be used in a "game." Each year in January there is an official kickoff where the "game" rules are revealed to teams of students from various schools around the nation. Production kits with the necessary parts for building a robot are also given to the students. From that point, teams have six weeks in which to brainstorm, design, construct, and test their robot. At the end of the six weeks, students ship their robots to the event site and convene for an exciting regional competition. This competition partners students with engineer mentors and teacher sponsors to complete the project. According to FIRST, the competition has a nearly 90% team retention rate.

This intense experience is somewhat costly. Registration fees for schools are $5,000. Schools use fundraisers, corporate, and government sponsorships to pay these fees. NASA is a major sponsor of the competition and gives many schools two-year grants of $6,000 to use for the competition, but since these grants do not cover all of the costs, other sponsors are sought.

The ASME petroleum division sponsored seven schools last year, donating the registration fees to each of those schools. According to Lucia Sevcik, ASME helped many Houston inner-city schools where funds beyond the NASA grants are especially scarce to successfully enter the competition. Another ASME petroleum division success story, she says, was with Hayes High School in Buda, Texas. The school found out about the robotics competition too late to apply for a NASA grant. Additionally, they were unsuccessful in gaining the needed amount of money through their fundraising efforts. Although the school had no money, they had a lot of heart and perseverance. Sevcik says the school assembled a team of engineers, teachers and students and when ASME's petroleum division stepped in to pay the registration fee, the school had already lost a week of competition time. Despite this, Hayes high school completed their robot and finished 24th out of 40 teams in the regional competition.

The ASME petroleum division is proud to sponsor this competition. If your school would like to apply for sponsorship, please email Lisa Elliott at elliottl@asme.org or contact her at 281-493-3491.