About FIRST

For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. FIRST uniquely combines knowledge, hands-on learning and competition; students work together to design, build and compete with their own robots.

FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway® Personal Transporter. It fosters interest in science and technology by forging them into a competition. Students design and build a robot in just six weeks. Then they pit their robot against other entries in head-to-head matches.

Amidst all this frenzy, all teams demonstrate two core values of FIRST - Gracious Professionalism™ and Coopertition™. Gracious professionalism™ simply means teams compete to the best of their abilities, but help their opponents along the way. It is not uncommon to see two teams working frantically before a match to fix a broken robot.

The second value, Coopertition™, creates high quality, innovative work. It is when students learn from each other, from mentors, and opponents. Most importantly, Coopertition™ is displaying kindness and respect in the face of fierce competition.