FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, was founded in 1989 by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, as a way to get high school-aged students involved in engineering and technology.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an exciting, multinational competition. It challenges teams of high school students and their mentors to solve, design and build a solution for an engineering problem. Each year FIRST gives out a new, and even more challenging problem. It is intense and competitive, teams have six weeks... a kit of parts... and a set of rules to work with.

In 2007 the competition will reach over 32,000 high school students, with 1,300 teams in 37 competitions. There are teams from Brazil, Canada, Ecuador, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, the UK, and almost every state in the US. The competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events. It's where lots of brainstorming, teamwork, and deadlines come together.

"To create a world where science and technology are celebrated... where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes"