ATLANTA, Jan. 7, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) --
WHAT: High-school students, engineers and science professors will
gather at Georgia Tech's Global Learning and Conference
Center for the kickoff of the annual FIRST Robotics
Competition. Two hundred students from 37 teams will learn
the rules and elements of the new 2004 Challenge, in which
they will design and build robots and enter them into
competitions.
The live NASA broadcast at Georgia Tech will be one of 26 remote kickoff events in the United States and Canada that will occur simultaneously with the live event in Manchester, NH. At the kickoff events, team representatives will receive details about this year's six-week competition and their kits of robot parts which include motors, control system, pneumatics, assorted hardware and a sophisticated software package that teams will use to build their robots. Representatives are expected from Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama. Jan. 10, 2004 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Telecast begins at 10 a.m.
WHERE: Global Learning and Conference Center, 84 Fifth St.,
Atlanta, Ga.
CONTACT: Pattie Cook, FIRST Regional Director, (804) 784-4898 or
robotsfirst@aol.com
Editors Note: The FIRST Robotics Competition (www.usfirst.org) was started in 1992 by New Hampshire inventor-engineer Dean Kamen; the initial event was held in a high-school gym and involved 28 teams. The program, which is designed to develop critical skills in science, technology and engineering, now encompasses more than 900 teams and 20,000 students competing in 26 regional events and a championship event that will be held April 15-18 in Atlanta, Ga.
The Peachtree Regional is scheduled for March 18-20, 2004, at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga. About 50 teams and more than 1,500 students, engineers and sponsors are expected. The free, two-day event could attract as many as 2,000 spectators.