BAE Systems, Inc. to Return as Presenting Sponsor for 2025 FIRST® Championship Event
50,000 students, supporters and industry leaders from around the globe to congregate in Houston during world’s largest youth STEM celebration
MANCHESTER, N.H., April 2, 2025 – FIRST®, a robotics community that prepares young people for the future, today announced that BAE Systems will return as the Presenting Sponsor for the 2025 FIRST Championship, the world’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for students, happening in Houston, Texas (April 16-19, 2025) this spring.
“BAE Systems has been a champion of FIRST for more than three decades. As a FIRST Strategic Partner, BAE Systems has helped us further our mission of inspiring students to seek out learning opportunities in STEM. Their fantastic support also allows us to give students the opportunity to see where their FIRST-learned skills can take them in their future careers,” said Chris Moore, CEO, FIRST. “For the third year, BAE Systems has returned as the Presenting Sponsor for FIRST Championship, providing a transformative experience for the thousands of students who will join us in Houston this spring to compete on a global stage.”
“Though our strategic partnership with FIRST, we’re investing in our pipeline of STEM talent and equipping students with the support and guidance to launch successful careers, modernize their fields, and ensure a prosperous future for our country,” said Tom Arseneault, president and CEO of BAE Systems, Inc. “These students will serve as America’s next great thinkers and leaders, driving innovation in our industry and solving the great problems of tomorrow, and their journey begins with the skillsets they’ve developed here.”
The 2024-2025 FIRST® DIVESM season, presented by Qualcomm, empowered students to use their STEM and collaboration skills to explore life beneath the surface of the ocean and uncover their potential to innovate for a better world with healthier oceans. More than 50,000 students, coaches, and supporters from 60 countries will participate in the 2025 FIRST Championship event in Houston. With the support of FIRST sponsors, the event promises participating robotics teams and spectators alike an inspiring and action-packed experience that has all the heart-pounding thrill and team spirit of a professional sporting event. Live robotics match coverage and behind-the-scenes highlights will stream on FIRSTtv. Audiences can also follow FIRST social channels for exclusive coverage of all the excitement.
The 2025 FIRST Championship is presented by BAE Systems. The Lead Sponsor is Mouser Electronics. Co-Sponsors include CrunchLabs, the Coca-Cola Company, DoD STEM, the Gene Haas Foundation, PwC, United Therapeutics, and the United States Space Force. Friends of FIRST Sponsors include Aramco, Ball, BuildSubmarines.com, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Molex, STEMconnector, and TE Connectivity.
The international FIRST Championship in an annual event hosted by FIRST, a youth-serving nonprofit founded by inventor Dean Kamen, to showcase and celebrate mentor-guided student robotics teams from four programs: FIRST® Robotics Competition (grades 9-12); FIRST® Tech Challenge (grades 7-12); FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge (grades 4-8); FIRST® LEGO® League Explore (grades 2-4).
The event is free to public spectators. For more information on FIRST Championship, please visit firstchampionship.org. Media interested in attending FIRST Championship should register at firstchampionship.org/media.
About FIRST®
FIRST® is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured after-school programs. Boosted by a global support system of volunteers, educators, and sponsors that include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, teams operate under a signature set of FIRST Core Values to conduct research, fundraise, design, build, and showcase their achievements during annual challenges.
An international not-for-profit organization founded by accomplished inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, FIRST has a proven impact on STEM learning, interest, and skill-building well beyond high school. Participants and alumni of FIRST programs gain access to education and career discovery opportunities, connections to exclusive scholarships and employers, and a place in the FIRST community for life. Learn more at firstinspires.org.
About BAE Systems, Inc.
About BAE Systems, Inc. BAE Systems, Inc. and its nearly 41,000 people are part of a global defense, aerospace, and security company with approximately 100,000 employees worldwide. We deliver products and services for air, land, sea and space, as well as advanced electronics, intelligence, security, and IT solutions and support services. Our dedication shows in everything we design, produce, and deliver—to protect those who protect us in a high-performance, innovative culture. We push the limits of possibility to provide a critical advantage to our customers where it counts. We’re investing in STEM opportunities to inspire the next generation of dreamers and doers to foster our future workforce.
