FIRST, For Inspiration and Recognition in Science and Technology, is an organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen which promotes student and community involvement in science and technology. They hold yearly competitions at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Since 2005, UCD has hosted a regional competition (usually in March) for high school competition. Each team builds a robot designed and programmed to complete a task disguised as a game that varies from year to year. The people who run this competition locally like to recruit Engineering Students to help out.
Dates of Davis Regionals
- March 26th-28th, 2009
- March 30th, 2007
- March 2006 & 2005
This is the website for the Davis/Sacramento Regional Competition Davis Regional
A funny part of this event is if you're on the floor of the Pavilion at all you MUST wear safety glasses no matter what. Also, corny signs asking competitors "Did you bring your gracious professionalism?" abound. For the Engineering nerds, NASA brings a trailer loaded with enough tools to make about anything to the event for use by the competitors. Overall it's a fun time showcasing a lot of talent and interesting designs
Some pictures from the 2007 competition: 
Media Coverage
Next Competition
March 26th, 27st, 28nd (2009)
- Egghead blog article about the 2008 season
