Local teens gear up for world robotics contest

PROVIDENCE – Three Ocean State Robotics teams will compete with students from around the world in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) World-Wide robotics contest.

The local teams – from Burrillville High, Tiverton High and The Met School in Providence – triumphed last month in the statewide FIRST Tech Challenge, held at New England Institute of Technology in Warwick. (READ MORE)

But before they travel to Atlanta to vie with other winning teams, the Ocean State teens face one more hurdle: “The teams have the robots and the drive to get to Atlanta, but they still need the funding,” Tech Collective spokeswoman Jo Ann Johnson said in a statement today.

“The cost of travel, room and board, entry fees and miscellaneous expenses to attend the Atlanta competition amount to over $20,000. So far, Tech Collective, schools, parents and the students – through tireless fund raising and the generosity of friends and family – have raised $17,000. We are so close!”

The students have until this Friday, April 11 to raise the final $3,000. Donations of any size “are gratefully welcome and are also tax-deductible,” Johnson said.

The FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is a mid-level robotics competition for high school students. An outgrowth of the existing FIRST Robotics Competition – along with the FIRST Lego League and Junior Lego League for younger students – it embraces a similar concept but with a simpler and more-affordable robotics kit.

All four robotics challenges are programs of the Manchester, N.H.-based For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST), a nonprofit founded in 1989 to inspire interest and participation in science, technology and engineering.

Besides New England Institute of Technology and the Tech Collective, local sponsors include the Business Innovation Factory (BIF), The R.I. Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and the R.I. Science & Technology Advisory Council (STAC).

Want to contribute? Credit-card donations to help send the local FIRST teams to Atlanta can be made online at www.FIRSTgiving.com/OceanStateRobotics2008. Checks may be sent to Jo Ann Johnson, Manager of Youth Initiatives at: Tech Collective, 3 Davol Square, Box 183, Providence, RI 02903. For additional information, contact Jo Ann Johnson at 521-7805, ext. 103, e-mail jjohnson@tech-collective.org or visit www.tech-collective.org.

To learn more about For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) and its robotics contests visit www.USFirst.org.