Goddard Major Player For Inaugural FIRST Chesapeake Regional

In the spirit of inspiring the next generation as only NASA can, Goddard sponsored several teams for the Inaugural Chesapeake Regional Robotics competition. Held March 13-15 at the historic United States Naval Academy, 55 teams of high school students culminated six-weeks of intense design and construction for the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) competition. Teams received awards and recognition for design excellence, competitive play, sportsmanship and high-impact partnerships between schools, businesses and communities.

	Mike Wade displays trophy for Volunteer of the Year Award.

Goddard employee Mike Wade was the recipient of the FIRST Volunteer of the Year award. Mike has been instrumental providing leadership and guidance in the establishment of robotics teams throughout northeast. For the Chesapeake Regional there were 28 teams sponsored by NASA, 10 of those teams, six from the state of Maryland and four from Pennsylvania, were sponsored by Goddard.

Founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen, who introduced the Segway Human Transporter, FIRST was created to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools and communities. Currently in its 12th year, the FIRST Robotics Competition anticipates its largest season ever with nearly 800 teams from Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada and nearly every state in the United States competing in 23 different regional competitions. The FIRST Championship is scheduled for April 10-12 at the home of the 2004 Super Bowl, Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Team members of 891 have their robot in manual mode during the Chesapeake Regional.

Over a six-week timeframe, students work with their professional mentors to design a robot that solves a problem using a "kit of parts" and a standard set of rules. Once these young inventors create the robot, their teams participate in regional competitions that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the power of collaboration and the determination of students. In this year's game, "Stack Attack," robots are designed to collect and stack plastic storage containers on their side of the playing field. The location of the containers and the height of the stacks determine each team's score for that round.

According to Steve Chism, chairperson for the Chesapeake Regional Planning Committee, the committee is already looking for sponsors for next year's Chesapeake Regional. "There is always a need for mentors as well as sponsors," said Chism. For complete results of this year's competition or for more information visit the Chesapeake Regional web site at http://www.mitc.org/first/.