FORT WORTH, TEXAS, April 30, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allied Electronics, a trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), announced today that they will provide a Model A Raspberry Pi computer board to each one of the more than 130 high school-age Dean's List Award finalists who participated in the 2014 FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) season. The Dean's List Award began in 2010 to recognize the leadership and dedication of the most outstanding FRC students.
More than 130 Dean's List Award finalists were recognized during a ceremony today at the 2014 FIRST® Championship event, held April 23-26 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO. More than 10,000 young people from all over the world are in St. Louis this week to participate in the FIRST Championship event, and more than 30,000 spectators are expected to join the annual celebration which has an estimated economic impact of $30M to the St. Louis area.
Elisa Weber, Allied's Director of Brand Strategy, said, "We're thrilled to support FIRST in their efforts to engage tomorrow's inventors and engineers in the exciting world of technology. The Dean's List Award finalists are going to be the innovators who will take us into the future, and we're proud to be right there with them."
Founded by noted inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, the mission of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology)is to, "… inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership."
"Now in its fourth year, the Dean's List Award recognizes students who are exemplary role models; they are young leaders who have made significant contributions to their teams and communities, all while fulfilling personal goals," said Frank Merrick, Director of FRC. "We are pleased that Allied Electronics is helping us celebrate the achievements of these young people, and our Dean's List Award finalists will certainly appreciate their generous gift."
Intended to promote the teaching of basic computer science in schools, Raspberry Pi is a credit-card sized single-board computer that plugs into a TV and can perform many of the functions of a desktop PC. With 256MB RAM and a variety of input sockets, the device runs on the Linux operating system. Launched in February 2012, it was announced that two million units had been shipped by the end of October 2013.
About Allied Electronics
Allied Electronics is a small order, high service level distributor of electronic components and electromechanical products with 48 sales offices serving the United States, Mexico, and Canada. With more than three million parts online and more than 110,000 products featured in the Allied Catalog, engineers and purchasers often look to Allied for a broad range of product solutions from over 300 world-class suppliers. Allied Electronics and RS Components are trading brands of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products headquartered in Oxford, England. www.alliedelec.com
Find Allied Electronics on Facebook: www.facebook.com/alliedelectronics
Follow Allied Electronics on Twitter: @alliedelec
About RS Components
RS Components and Allied Electronics are the trading brands of Electrocomponents plc, the world's leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products. With operations in 32 countries, RS offers more than 550,000 products through the Internet, catalogues and at trade counters to over one million customers, shipping around 44,000 parcels a day. Products are sourced from 2,500 leading suppliers and include electronics, automation and control, test and measurement, electrical and mechanical components.
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, 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 support from over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies and more than $19 million in college scholarships, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC® ) for students in Grades 9-12; FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC® ) for Grades 7-12; FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL® ) for Grades 4-8; and Junior FIRST® LEGO® League (Jr.FLL®) for Grades K-3. Gracious Professionalism® is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org.