11th Annual New York City's FIRST® Celebration Sets the Stage for Science and Innovation

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from more than 100 schools around the world will showcase their sportsmanship and engineering prowess when they put their custom-built robots to the test during the 11th Annual New York City's FIRST (NYC FIRST) competition at the Jacob Javits Convention Center March 11-13, 2011.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110222/NY52228 )

"This mega weekend promises to be an exciting celebration of sports, science and innovation with so many talented students competing and collaborating in a variety of robotic challenges," says Pat Daly, Regional Director of NYC FIRST. "During President Obama's last State of the Union address, he stressed how our country needs to be leaders in innovation. The NYC FIRST Competition is truly a staging ground where we will see this happen."

Four robotics competitions will be held throughout the weekend celebration, where brains will meet mechanical brawn.

NYC, FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) – FRC combines sports excitement with the rigors of science and technology. Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams are challenged to fund, design a brand, exercise teamwork, and build and program robots to perform tasks against competitors. This year, more than 60 high school teams from as far as England and Brazil will compete throughout the three-day event.

NYC, FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC®) – FTC is designed for head-to-head competition.  Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. More than 60 high school teams will compete on March 12th.

NYC, FIRST® LEGO® League Championship (FLL®) – FLL introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by building LEGO-based robots to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface.  FLL teams, guided by their imaginations, discover exciting career possibilities and learn to make positive contributions to society. Eighty middle school teams will compete on March 13th.

NYC, Jr. FIRST® LEGO® League Exposition (Jr FLL™) – Jr. FLL Expo introduces the youngest students to the exciting worlds of science and technology.  Just like FLL, this program features real-world challenges to be solved by research, critical thinking and imagination. Guided by coaches, students work with LEGO elements to create solutions and present them for review.  More than 20 elementary schools will show their creativity on March 13th.

"By studying robotics, kids peel back layers of the world around them and not only see how things work, but how things are invented," said Meghan Groome, Ph.D. and director of K12 Science Education Initiatives at The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS). "NYC FIRST gives kids the opportunity to see that science, technology, education and math  are not just about book-learning, but about solving the world's problems."

"NYAS is thrilled to mentor teams and to help nurture the next generation of scientific leaders. The opportunity to design, build, program a robot and compete is an experience that inspires the kids to work harder, get involved and learn," Dr. Groome said.

More information on the NYC FIRST Celebration can be found by going to:

http://www.nycnjfirst.org

Note to editors: A press kit is available upon request.

About NYC's FIRST

NYC FIRST is the Regional Office of FIRST®, the 501c3 not-for-profit organization created to inspire youth to pursue studies and careers in science and technology and to help students acquire the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the technologically-driven global economy.

SOURCE FIRST