FedEx Recognizes Young Innovators at FIRST® Championship
April 28 2015 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
Innovation Challenge Awards More than $50,000
in Grants
Dozens of middle and high school students competing in the
international FIRST Championship in St. Louis are walking away from
the second annual FedEx Innovation Challenge with more than $50,000
in grant money to fund their teams for the next year.
The FedEx Innovation Challenge is a social media-based
competition consisting of math and science problems and scavenger
hunt activities, FedEx innovation trivia and more. Since January
2015, more than 200 student teams around the world have creatively
showcased their innovative thinking in the second annual
competition to win prizes including:
- A total of $52,500 in grant funding for
both FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) and
the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams
- VIP access at the national FIRST
competition in St. Louis
- Travel to FIRST headquarters in
Manchester, N.H., to pitch a concept for a future game design
- Product prizes, such as: an iPad Mini,
RoboRIO controller and more
Here’s a preview of some of the creative student team videos
included in the Challenge.
Winners of the 2015 grant funding, announced Saturday, April 25,
in St. Louis at the global FIRST Championships, are:
- FRC Winners
- First Place, $15,000: The Beak Squad,
team 4028, from Cincinnati, Ohio
- Second Place, $10,000: Ultime, team
5528, from Quebec, Canada
- Third Place, $5,000: Robomos, team
3602, from Escanaba, Mich.
- FTC Winners
- First Place, $10,000: 2 Bits and a
Byte, team 4029, from Lexington, Mass.
- Second Place, $7,500: Vertigo, team
7953, from Charlottesville, Va.
- Third Place, $5,000: Tuxedo Pandas,
team 4924, from Christiansburg, Va.
The grants will be administered by FIRST and are available for
use in future FIRST initiatives.
“By engaging tomorrow’s innovators through creative STEM
education programs like FIRST, FedEx is building a generation with
the vision and critical skills to drive business, research and the
non-profit sectors into the future,” said Virginia Albanese,
president and CEO, FedEx Custom Critical. “The competition for
innovation to drive growth is very real in both the private and
public sectors. We’re proud to be supporting a program that helps
position the students of today for success tomorrow through
practical, skills-based experiences.”
FedEx is a long-standing and proud supporter of FIRST. Beginning
in 2002, FedEx has shipped an estimated 12 million pounds of
starter kits and completed robots to and from FIRST competitions,
valued at over $1 million in retail shipping costs annually.
In addition to facilitating the Innovation Challenge and
providing in-kind shipping, FedEx continues its sponsorship of the
FIRST Robotics Rookie Grant Program. FedEx began sponsoring 187 new
teams in 2014 for a three-year period, supporting their progress in
competition with personalized sponsorship and mentoring
opportunities to learn from professionals already working in their
areas of interest.
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.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses
worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and
business services. With annual revenues of $47 billion, the company
offers integrated business applications through operating companies
competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the
respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most
admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 325,000
team members to remain “absolutely, positively” focused on safety,
the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of
their customers and communities. For more information,
visit news.fedex.com.
FedEx Media RelationsLori Walton,
901-361-0054lori.walton@fedex.com
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