FIRST At A Glance

FIRST 

• Founded 1989
• Headquartered in Manchester, NH
• 501(c)(3) public charity
• FIRST Financial Information

Leadership

• Dean Kamen, Founder
• John Abele, Chairman of the Board
• Paul Gudonis, President
• Board of Directors & Senior Management 

Supporters

• Over 85,000 volunteers make FIRST happen 
• FIRST is supported by a network of over 3,000 corporations, educational and professional institutions, and individuals

Programs

• FIRST Robotics Competition for high-school students
• FIRST Tech Challenge for high-school students 
• FIRST LEGO League for 9 to 14 year-olds
• Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to 9 year-olds
• FIRST Place for ages 6 to adult

2010 FIRST Scholarship Program 

• More than $11 million in college scholarships
• Over 630 individual scholarship opportunities
• Over 130 scholarship providers

Overall Reach - All Programs Combined (projections for the 2009/10 season) 

• 213,000 students
• 19,200 teams
• 17,700 robots
• 57,200 mentors
• 32,000 event volunteers

See breakdowns by individual program below.

2010 FIRST Robotics Competition (projected)

• 1,800 teams
• 45,000 high-school students (Grades 9-12)
• FIRST Robotics Competition Championship at the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA, April 15-17, 2010
• Robots are built in 6 weeks from a common kit of parts provided by FIRST, and weigh up to 120 lbs. (excluding battery and bumpers)

2009 FIRST Tech Challenge (projected)

• 1,300 teams
• 13,000 high-school students (Grades 9-12)
• 60 Qualifying and Championship Tournaments in Canada, Holland, Mexico, U.S.
• FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship at the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA, April 15-17, 2010
• Robots are built using a modular robotics platform

2009 FIRST LEGO League (projected)

• 14,600 teams
• 146,000 students, ages 9 to 14* (Grades 4-8)
• From more than 50 countries including: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Faeroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Haiti, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Lithuania, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the U.S.
• Over 475 Qualifying Events and 89 Championship Tournaments
• FIRST LEGO League World Festival at the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA, April 15-17, 2010
• Robots are built using LEGO MINDSTORMS technologies

*Ages 9 to 16 outside the U.S. and Canada

2009 Junior FIRST LEGO League (projected)

• 1,500 teams
• 9,000 students, ages 6 to 9 (Grades K-3)
• Teams from Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, and the U.S.
• 50 Jr.FLL Expos
• Kids design and construct a model using LEGO bricks and moving parts and present their research journey on a poster

Page updated 10/02/09