Name The Planet Contest

Jul 17, 2018 Written by Frank Merrick.

2019 Destination: Deep Space Name the Planet Contest is here!

FIRST Place Summer Day Camps

The SEE Science Center in Manchester, NH, and FIRST® are collaborating to bring local students the opportunity to learn about robotics in a fun day camp program this summer.

FIRST® PLACE™ Invention Challenge summer camp invites kids ages 9-14 to think like scientists and engineers. NH Certified Teachers who have experience with LEGO® MINDSTORMS® will guide the campers in small teams to design, modify, and program autonomous EV3 robots. Campers will have the opportunity to be the first to try out the new FIRST® LEGO® League 2019-2020 CITY SHAPERSM Challenge. This brand-new challenge encourages kids to work together in small teams to use their creativity and inspiration to help the cities, towns, and places we call home reach new heights and build a more sustainable future.

For more information please visit the SEE Science Center website or call 603-669-0400.


The SEE Science Center is a hands-on science learning center located at 200 Bedford Street, Manchester, NH 03101.  The center is open to the public seven days a week, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 pm., and weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

FIRST TV and IRI Coverage

Jul 12, 2018 Written by Frank Merrick.

Join us on Tuesday, July 17th at 7pm ET for an exciting interview along with a fun season-related contest! Plus check out the IRI coverage this weekend!

Control System Layout For All

Jul 10, 2018 Written by Frank Merrick.

A digital link to the 2015 Control System Board layout we gave away, plus a great photo of FIRST Robotics Competition Team 1189 and their bananas!

From Robots to IT: How One FIRST Alum and Mentor Got a New Job at FedEx

Jul 03, 2018 Written by Jason Baker, FedEx

This year at FIRST Championship a FedEx robot roamed the hallways. It’s part of a growing fleet of robots used in our tech repair centers to help carry parts back and forth between technicians.

FIRST Tech Challenge Advancement and Criteria

Depending on the event structure within the region, teams may advance through different methods. For example, some regions go from Qualifying Tournaments to Regional/State Championships, while others go from League Meets to League Championship to Regional/State Championship. See the chart below for possible avenues of advancement. 

FIRST Program Delivery Partners run local and regional events which may include physical, remote, or a combination of physical and remote elements. Partners may charge an additional fee to participate in their events, and those fees are set and collected by the Partner. Team Registration does not guarantee that events are available in your area.  If you cannot locate an event in our system, please contact your local partner at https://firstinspires.org/find-local-support. 

Tournament Structure

Teams will advance to the next level of competition in the order indicated below according to the number of spots available. The advancement criteria will be applied to teams advancing from Qualifying Tournaments to Championship Tournaments; from Championship Tournaments to the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Houston, Texas.

In the event that the team listed has already advanced or there is no team fitting that description (as in 2nd team selected at smaller events), the advancement will continue in order.

For team advancement order please see the Game Manual Part 1. 

Championship Map Changes and Somebody Wanted This!

Jun 28, 2018 Written by Frank Merrick.

Please see the changes to the 2019 FIRST Championship location assignments. Thanks to all of you who requested the Control System poster!

Student Innovations in Water Use, Interaction Recognized at FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award

Spanish Team Awarded $20,000 Prize to Help Advance Pioneering Agricultural Solution
 

FIRST Welcomes Leaders from Society of Women Engineers and Johnson R&D Corporation to Board of Directors

Executive Director and CEO of Society of Women Engineers and President and Founder of Johnson R&D Corporation Join Board of Global K-12 STEM Organization
 

 

Erica Fessia

Erica Newton Fessia
Vice President, Global Field Operations, FIRST®

Erica Newton Fessia joined FIRST in 2018 as Vice President of Global Field Operations. In her role, Erica’s primary mission is working with the overall FIRST community to develop and evolve our vision for the implementation for sustainable, coherent, growth-oriented local FIRST ecosystems, where kids throughout the world have access to a solid progression of FIRST programs.

Erica brings a strong professional and leadership background to FIRST in social entrepreneurship, community engagement, and human-resource management, spanning both the for-profit and not-for-profit worlds. Prior to joining FIRST, Erica most recently served as Director of Community Engagement for Qualcomm, a FIRST Strategic Partner, where she had been instrumental in supporting and growing Qualcomm’s relationship with FIRST. She served on the FIRST Executive Advisory Board (EAB) for the last two years in the role.

In addition to a successful, long-time career with Qualcomm and running her own HR consultancy, in 2007 Erica launched a non-profit organization, South Bay Children’s Museum, to pursue her passion for creating memorable learning experiences in the areas of math, science, and art for children in her community. Hence, FIRST fits beautifully with Erica’s long-time interests and passions.