MANCHESTER, NH ― More than 12,000 students from around the globe traveled to St. Louis, MO, to put their engineering skills to the test at the annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, held at the Edward Jones Dome the week of April 26, 2014.
The three-day event came down to a heart-pounding conclusion Saturday night in front of a roaring crowd of 20,000 when four teams from San Jose, CA, Bloomfield Hills, MI; Dallas, TX; and Holland, MI, won the coveted FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Championship Winning Alliance. In this year’s game, AERIAL ASSIST, FRC teams took to the field, where competing Alliances scored points by throwing balls over a truss, catching balls, and putting as many balls in goals as possible. The more Alliances worked together to score, the more points their Alliance received. This year, 68,175 students on 2,727 FRC teams in 17 countries participated in 98 Regional and District competitions.
In all, more than 12,000 students, ages six to 18, participated in the Championship events.
Notable Quotes
- Dean Kamen, FIRST Founder: “This country celebrates sports and entertainment, but wealth is not created by these ventures; it is the result. It’s a passion for science, technology, and innovation that have allowed these industries to prosper. Take what you have learned here and solve the world’s problems.”
- will.i.am, STEM education advocate: “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, but here in St. Louis with you; the future. If you want a peek at the future, you come here to the FIRST Championship. And when I say future, I mean future leaders, future inventors, and future problem solvers.”
- Amy Kule, Group Vice President, Macy’s Parade and Entertainment Group: “I’ve been impressed and inspired by you all. Continue to think bigger, think smarter, and save the world.”
Competition Overview
More than 600 teams from 38 countries competed in the three levels of FIRST:
- FIRST LEGO League (FLL, grades 4 to 8)
- FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC, grades 7 to 12)
- FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC, grades 9 to 12)
Additionally, 40 teams of six to 9-year-olds participated in the Junior FIRST LEGO League (Jr.FLL, grades K-3) World Festival Expo.
Dr. Bart Kamen Memorial Scholarships
The scholarships were awarded to:
- Brian Cheng, FIRST Tech Challenge Teams 406, 407, and 408 and FIRST Robotics Competition Team 118 from Parkway South High School in Manchester, MO.
- Patrick Demkowicz, FIRST Robotics Competition Team 178 from Farmington Senior High School in Farmington, CT.
- Jane Tong, FIRST Robotics Competition Team 75 from Hillsborough High School in Hillsborough, NJ.
- Vishnu Rachakonda, FIRST LEGO League Alumnus and FIRST Robotics Competition Team 53 from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, MD.
Championship Honors
The FIRST Championship honored significant supporters of the FIRST mission:
- Founder’s Award: Qualcomm (accepted by Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, Executive Chairman)
- Woodie Flowers Award: Lane Matheson, Director, Tulsa Engineering Academy at Memorial High School; Mentor, Team 932, Circuit Chargers, Tulsa, Okla.
- Make It Loud Award: Amy Kule, Group Vice President, Macy’s Parade and Entertainment Group
- Trailblazer Award: Lynn Tilton, Founder and CEO, Patriarch Partners LLC
- FIRST Future Innovator Award sponsored by the Abbott Fund: Michelle Yang, Alexander Lu, and Valerie Huynh, FRC Team 5212, TAMSformers, Denton, Texas
2014 FIRST Championship Winners
1. FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Championship
- Winning Alliance: Team 254, The Cheesy Poofs, San Jose, CA; Team 469, Las Guerrillas, Bloomfield Hills, MI; Team 2848, The All Sparks, Dallas, TX; Team 74, Team C.H.A.O.S., Holland, MI, from the Curie Division.
- Chairman’s Award: Team 27, Team RUSH, Clarkston, MI
2. FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) World Championship
- Inspire Award: Team 3141, Bears, Mexico City, Mexico
- Winning Alliance: Team 7013, Hot Wired, Portland, OR; Team 5257, Eagles Robotics XPerience, Delray Beach, FL; Team 4240, 4-H Techno Clovers, Accident, MD, from the Franklin Division.
- FTC Volunteer of the Year Award: Susie Mathieu of St. Louis, MO
- Compass Award: Robert Spath
3. FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival
- Champion’s Award 1st Place: Team 20650, Invicta, Canterbury, United Kingdom
- Champion’s Award 2nd Place: Team 21450, Fast and Curious, Aley, Lebanon
- Champion’s Award 3rd Place: Team 737, S.H.I.E.L.D., Brookfield, Wis.
4. Junior FIRST LEGO League (Jr.FLL) World Festival Expo
Various awards were given to teams in categories such as “Against All Odds,” “Amazing Movement,” “Complexity and Decoration,” and more.
2014 FIRST Championship Sponsors
- Presenting Sponsor: Qualcomm
- Program Sponsors: Monsanto Company, Abbott Fund, Boeing Company, Coca-Cola Company, FedEx Corporation, NASA, NRG Energy, Inc., United States Air Force, and United Technologies Corporation.
- Other Sponsors: America Makes, Autodesk, Bechtel Corporation, Best Buy Co., Inc., Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., Central Intelligence Agency, Comcast/NBCUniversal, Culinary Institute of America, GoDaddy, International Association of Emergency Managers, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), Leidos, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Mouser Electronics, Inc., Novelis, Inc., Nvidia Corporation, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Patriarch Partners, LLC (I am Jane; Ken Paves), Siemens, Southwest Airlines, SpaceX, UL, and Vulcan Spring.
Save the date: The FIRST Championship will be in St. Louis, Mo. through 2017:
- April 22-25, 2015
- April 27-30, 2016
- April 26-29, 2017
