East Greenwich, RI – New England Institute of Technology (NEIT) will sponsor the tenth annual FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge on Saturday, January 30, 2016, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Serving as Rhode Island’s FIRST® Tech Challenge Affiliate Partner, NEIT will host 33 middle and high school robotics teams for the state competition at the university’s Center for Automotive Technology located at 101 Access Road, Warwick, Rhode Island.
Accomplished inventor, Dean Kamen, founded FIRST® in 1989 to inspire students with an appreciation of science and technology through the fun of robotics. The goal is to engage students in developing problem solving, critical thinking, and innovative reasoning skills using custom-designed robots. Middle school and high school teams will compete for the chance to participate at the FIRST® state, regional and world championships.
More than 55 Rhode Island middle and high school teams have registered for this high-energy event. Qualifier competitions were held on December 5th and December 19th with one more qualifier scheduled for January 9, 2016, at NEIT’s East Greenwich campus located at One New England Tech Blvd. These qualifier competitions determine which 33 teams advance to the state tournament. Winners of the state competition will travel to the East Super-Regional FIRST® competition in Scranton, Pennsylvania in March, 2016. Top teams from the four Super-Regional tournaments will earn a spot at the FIRST® World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri in April, 2016.
Qualifier competitions as well as the state tournament are free and open to the public. For more information on the FIRST® Tech Challenge, please contact Erin Flynn, Manager of Admissions Outreach and Events at New England Tech at 401-739-5000, ext. 3462 or [email protected]. To learn more about the FIRST® organization, please visit www.usfirst.org.