ATLANTA, Jan. 5, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- EMS Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:ELMG) announced today its second year of engineering mentoring and financial support to Norcross High School's robotics team in their participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition. The competition kicks off Jan. 8 when the "game" will be unveiled in a live teleconference from FIRST headquarters and over NASA TV to educational locations around the country. The six-week competition attracts more than 800 high school teams globally, and will conclude with a Championship Event at the Georgia Dome in April.
EMS Technologies is providing financial support to the team, as well as the support of three engineering mentors from EMS Space & Technology/Atlanta and LXE. In addition, EMS will donate access to its machine shop for the building of the robot, which is provided to the students in a kit of 800 parts. EMS also is supporting FIRST through participation on the Peachtree Regional Advisory Council. Steve Chambers, director, Operations & Administration for EMS, is serving on the 2005 council.
Jeff Pahl, project engineer with EMS Space & Technology/Atlanta who has worked for EMS for 11 years, will mentor the team for a second year.
"The best thing about FIRST is getting to work with a bunch of extremely bright, motivated and talented high school kids, and seeing them have fun while learning. Companies like EMS are dependent on having a supply of technical people skilled in science and engineering," says Pahl, who tests EMS hardware to ensure that it performs as promised for several military and commercial satellite system programs. He adds, "We must continue to develop scientists and engineers in this country if we are going to hold any kind of position in the industrial world. This is well worth the time and money we put into it."
Nathan Ballantine, the robotics team advisor at Norcross High School, says the support from sponsors like EMS is critical to his school's participation.
"One of our most proudest accomplishments, besides designing, building, and competing in our first FIRST competition last year, was our selection to receive the 'Johnson and Johnson Sportsmanship Award' at the Peachtree Regional competition as a rookie team," he says. "What we demonstrated at the competition was not only our competitive side, but also our efforts to help other teams in any way we could -- an idea instilled in our students by our faculty and industry mentors. Our program could not be as successful without the help of our industry mentors."
Norcross High School has 20 students on its 2005 robotics team, which will compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition's Peachtree Regional being held March 3-5 at the Gwinnett Civic Center.
About FIRST
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, NH, FIRST designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math. 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(R) League for children 9-14 years old. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.
About EMS Technologies, Inc.
EMS Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of technology solutions to wireless and satellite markets. The Company focuses on mobile information users, and increasingly on broadband applications. The Company is headquartered in Atlanta, employs approximately 1,600 people worldwide, and has manufacturing facilities in Atlanta, Montreal, Ottawa and Brazil. For more information, visit EMS on the World Wide Web at www.ems-t.com.
For more information, please contact:
Anne Sargent Public Relations EMS Technologies 770-263-9200, ext. 4326 pr@ems-t.com