Whether or not you liked GM’s “Robot” commercial (see yesterday’s post), you’ve got to like FIRST and its student robotics competitions. I hadn’t heard of FIRST until recently when a friend and fund-raiser gave me the run down. The FIRST website, usfirst.com, provides a concise summary:
FIRST was founded in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. Based in Manchester, NH, the 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit public charity designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, knowledge, and life skills.
Founded by Dean Kamen, the genius inventor behind Segue, FIRST hosts a number of robotic competitions for kids including Junior FIRST Lego (kids 6-9), First Lego (10-14), FIRST Vex Challenge (high school) and FIRST Robotics Competition (high school). Each program challenges kids to build robots as a team with the level of complexity accelerating with age. Volunteer engineers work with the kids to create robots that can complete complex tasks (which does not include destroying other robots.)
The largest of these is the FIRST Robotics Competition which has several regional competitions followed by a huge national finals at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. On the FIRST website they describe this as the “varsity sport for the mind” which to me is a wonderfully evocative position. Not that I have anything against high school football but consider for amount how much civic money and energy goes into celebrating academically-challenged Neanderthals bashing each others brains out. Imagine for a moment the same kind of money and energy going into something that celebrates brain-power over brawn.
Here’s how it would happen in Dream Town, USA. On Wednesday, the Dream Town cheerleaders, made up of the top English students would lead a FIRST pep rally in the gym. Everyone on campus would show up to support the FIRST teams who were now BMOC/BWOC’s and the heart-throbs of many. On Thursday, FIRST boosters would host an alumni dinner raising record amounts of cash to create the best robotics “gym” in the country. Giant Corp, a huge local company, would offer a challenge grant that would ensure FIRST’s funding for the next 10 years. The female CTO (the youngest in the history of Giant Corp) would make a speech noting with tears in her eyes that FIRST gave her the idea that maybe she could pursue a career in math and science. On Friday, the JV and Varsity FIRST teams would host an exhibition match which would also double as a recruiting effort for next year’s team. The Principal of the school announces that the FIRST coach was now making more than the football coach and everyone cheered. Over the weekend, the Dream Town FIRST team would travel to a regional competition where they would face off against the best and the brightest in their area. On Monday, the Dream Town Gazette would run a story on the cover of the sports page about the weekend competition eclipsing coverage of the Super Bowl.
Robots over-taking football? Geeks becoming BMOC’s? Yeah, right! As Dean Kamen says, “we are what we celebrate” and it seems to me celebrating invention is a brilliant idea whose time has come and frankly our global competitiveness depends on it. So GM, I appeal to you again and suggest you become a lead sponsor of FIRST and get your cute little yellow Robot to all the regional competitions. Other companies with a strong emphasis on technology and engineering, encourage your employees to get involved or at minimum underwrite some of the events. FIRST could and should be a “varsity sport for the mind” enjoying all the social and financial support of other athletic endeavors.