FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) returned to the Georgia World Congress Center Authority Campus April 27-29 for its championship event after months of preparation and regional competitions. The FIRST Championship is the premier student robotics competition and celebration of science and technology. The Championship marks the culmination of the FIRST Robotics Competition, FIRST LEGO League, and FIRST Vex Challenge seasons. Students work alongside professional engineers to design, build and then compete with robots in three simultaneous competitions. The event is open to the public and features exciting, high-tech competitions, access to robot pit areas where teams repair and refine the robots for competition, and seminars on the latest in robotics technology.

The FIRST Robotics Competition Championship was the main event of the weekend with 340 teams and 8,500 students competing. This challenge, called "Aim High", tests the students' and robots' ability to fire foam balls through hoops, plow them into floor goals and program a robotic vision system to navigate the robot.

The Championship was once again based in the Georgia Dome, with exhibit halls at the adjacent Georgia World Congress Center serving as the pit area for the competition. Centennial Olympic Park provided an exciting setting for an ice cream social and the event's closing celebration.

"Without a doubt, our unique campus offers an event like FIRST everything they are looking for in a convention facility, from a stadium to traditional exhibit hall space to the wonderful 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park," said Georgia World Congress Center General Manager Mark Zimmerman.

FIRST will return to the Georgia World Congress Center Authority campus for their championship in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

ABOUT FIRST
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools and their communities. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology and engineering. With the support of many of the world's most well-known companies, the non-profit organization hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition for high school students and the FIRST LEGO™ League for children 9-14 years old. To learn more about FIRST and the 2002 FIRST Robotics Competition go to www.usfirst.org.