75,000 High-School Students Attend the 2015 FIRST® Robotics Competition

Worldwide, nearly 75,000 high-school students attended the 2015 FIRST® Robotics Competition according to a press release from the inventor and FIRST® Founder Dean Kamen.

The company launched the 2015 FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) season this week with the Kickoff of a new robotics game called RECYCLE RUSHSM before a crowd of more than 800 people at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., hometown of FIRST Headquarters.



“FIRST is more than robots. The robots are a vehicle for students to learn important life skills,” said Dean Kamen, president of DEKA Research & Development and FIRST Founder. “Kids often come in not knowing what to expect – of the program nor of themselves. They leave, even after the first season, with a vision, with confidence, and with a sense that they can create their own future.”


RECYCLE RUSHSM is a recycling-themed game played by two Alliances of three robots each. Robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter. In keeping with the recycling theme of the game, all game pieces used are reusable or recyclable by teams in their home locations or by FIRST at the end of the season.

“We are working hard to bring FIRST to more and more schools. We know how important it is for our economy (to do so),” said New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan to attendees at Southern New Hampshire University. “As you recognize and nurture excellence, what you are doing is critical to the future of New Hampshire, the country, and the world.”

A replay of the Kickoff broadcast, and more information on the competition, can be found online at the company web site: http://www.usfirst.org/whats-going-on.