FIRST Robotics Competition

• Saturday, December 12, 2020 - 11am to 12pm - Saturday Seminar - Peer-to-Peer Workshop - Outreach with Impact - Details here
• Saturday, December 12, 2020 - 1pm to 1pm - Saturday Seminar - Peer-to-Peer Workshop - Basics of West Coast Drive - Details here
• FRC 2021 Kickoff - January 8 and 9, 2021 - Details here

FIRST LEGO League - Challenge Division
Details on the remote event structure can be found here.

Current schedule for general public events:

• Sunday, January 10, 2021 - Virtual Season Opening Ceremony - Details here
• Monday, January 25, 2021 - Virtual Season Opening Ceremony - State Championship - Details here

FIRST Tech Challenge
Details on the remote event structure can be found here.

Keep checking the calendar as events are updated!

"When the world gives you lemons, make lemonade." Or better yet...

"When the world gives you a bucket of spare parts, build a robot!"

Despite the challenges, FIRST is still moving forward and learning right alongside our teams, students and mentors. We invite you to get involved and to check out all the activity happening this fall.

FIRST Robotics Competition
Saturday Seminars
Open to teams and the public
Current schedule:

• Saturday, November 14, 2020 - 10am to 12pm ET - Spotlight on Caterpillar Inc.  - Details here
• Saturday, November 21, 2020 - 10am to 11:30am ET - Forming a team nonprofit - Details here
• Saturday, December 5, 2020 - 11am to 12:30pm ET - Spotlight on Duke Energy and Electrical Engineering Careers - Details here

Interested in presenting a Saturday Seminar? Please submit your proposal here.

FIRST LEGO League - Challenge Division
Details on the remote event structure can be found here.
Current schedule for general public:

• Sunday, December 6, 2020 - 4pm ET - Virtual Tournament Opening Ceremony - Qualifier Events Week 1
• Sunday, January 10, 2021 - 4pm ET - Virtual Tournament Opening Ceremony - Qualifier Events Weeks 2, 3 and State Championship

FIRST Tech Challenge
Details on the remote event structure can be found here.

Check back often for updates. Events will be added to our calendar as they are finalized. Hope to see you virtually or in-person soon!

Alumni Spotlight
Caleb Balsiger

Share some of your background.

Hi, I am Private first class Caleb Balsiger, an Airborne Intelligence analyst for the US Army and also a FIRST alumni and mentor. When I was in high school, I spent 2 years on FRC team 537 Charger robotics from Sussex, Wisconsin. During my time in robotics I worked mainly on the robot side with electrical and was also a safety captain. I remember many of my mentors and peers were confused at times because to me robotics was just a hobby and, I wanted to go into the army to do intelligence work, wear camouflage, and to jump out of planes, not to be an engineer. It turns out though that I was the one who was confused, because FIRST is so much more than just engineering, business and robots and it ended up having a bigger impact on me than just some hobby.

What are some the skills you learned while on your FIRST Robotics Competition team?

There were many life skills and habits that I started building up while in robotics without even realizing it. Problem solving, public speaking, and teamwork skills are just a few of many things robotics helped me get better at and still apply to my life and job today. Whether it's finding solutions to help keep people safe around the world, having to give presentations and briefs to army leadership, or working along with other soldiers to complete tasks, I still use skills that were only made better by FIRST. One thing that stuck with me the most though was the amount of volunteer and outreach work my team did, from blood drives to road cleanup I think almost every week out of build season we were prepping for demos and volunteering somewhere.

How did you move from team member to mentor?

In September 2018 I moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to start at my first unit, the 82nd Airborne Division. One of my goals for my time at my first unit was to find somewhere to volunteer. While brainstorming ideas for ways to volunteer in the local community, I started thinking about all the volunteer opportunity I had in robotics. So I decided I would contact FIRST to see if there were any teams in the area that needed help or mentors. FIRST North Carolina was extremely helpful and responded with the names of three different teams in the area that could use another mentor. So I picked the closest and most junior one, FRC 6729 RobCoBots a third year team with only 3 mentors all who were still new to FIRST. I emailed back and forth with the student team lead Kevin a few times and before I knew it I was attending meetings, getting to know the students, and watching them develop the same skills and learning the same life lessons that FIRST taught me.

Alumni Spotlight
Chad Robinson

What team were you a member of?

I am an FRC 4935 T-Rex alumni.

Where do you currently work?

I am a fourth year apprentice at Siemens Energy. I have represented the Siemens apprenticeship at the White House in a roundtable meeting with President Trump and Chancellor Merkel of Germany, I was awarded a full scholarship to travel to Germany in order to study the language and work for Siemens, and I will complete my education with a degree in Computer Integrated Machining, Business Management, and German completely debt free.

What are some skills you learned from your FIRSTexperience that have made an impact on your current job?

I have had many opportunities in the early stages of my career thanks to FIRSTand T-Rex. The skill set that FIRSTinstilled in me is why I have accomplished what I have thus far in my career. Being on the team gave me the most real-world experience I could get in high school. I was able to operate on different machinery (drill presses, band saws, bridgeports), worked with CAD models, made business calls, brainstormed marketing promotions, and worked first-hand with employees at Bosch Rexroth. I was able to experience what is was like to work within an actual business. That is something I could not get in any other program at school. FIRSToffered me the chance to gain valuable work experience that better prepared me for my future.

How has FIRSTimpacted your life?

I would not be where I am today without FIRSTand T-Rex; it provided me with so many networking opportunities. We worked hand and hand with various companies that were mentors, volunteers, and even sponsors. That is how I was able to get my foot in the door with Siemens. My social and soft skills were cultivated throughout my tenure with T-Rex. We had to come up with a business plan for our robot and present that to our mentors, judges and even to other teams. Having T-Rex and FIRSTin my life impacted me in ways I could never imagine and I cannot express enough gratitude to the mentors that provided us with wisdom and knowledge, my fellow members for bringing out the best in me, and the sponsors who provided us with this unique opportunity.