FIRSTbase

   

   Top : High Tech High  "Holy Cows"          Middle: Thunder Chickens  

    Bottom- Images from the "Cybersonics"- winners of the 2009 Autodesk FIRST Inventor Award

  They entered the competition with team names such as “Thunder Chickens”  “RoboRaiders”, “Einstein’s Daughters” and “Blue Cheese”.  These quirky titles already reveal something about the creativity level among the high school entrants in the 2009 FIRST Robotics competition. (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) In speaking about the competition, Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST stated” Our mission is about more than building robots; we are working to inspire and change a culture”. The culture he references is one of innovation, collaboration and community spirit.  I had the wonderful opportunity to see this mission in practice by getting to meet and speak with several members of the “Holy Cows, the FIRST Robotic competition team at high Tech High San Diego, CA.  As an educator, with a keen interest in student engagement, I was extremely impressed by the intelligence and sense of confidence/ maturity expressed by the young men and women at High Tech High. 

    Autodesk has been involved with the FIRST competition for many years.  Among the many 2009 teams that received support from Autodesk were two award recipients.  Team 103, “Cybersonics”, from Pennsylvania were this year’s winners of the Autodesk Inventor award. Team 1716, “Redbird Robotics” from Wisconsin was the recipient’s of the 2009 Autodesk Visualization Award.  By supporting student participants, Autodesk is doing more than facilitating acquisition of technical skills. Through the melding of academics and real world applications, competitions such as FIRST, present opportunities for students to develop the full range of 21st century skills that will be necessary for success in a rapidly changing global economy.  information about FIRST and Autodesk can be found at Autodesk FirstBase.