{"id":16064,"date":"2019-08-12T11:00:15","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T19:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2019\/08\/12\/news-9807\/"},"modified":"2019-08-12T11:00:15","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T19:00:15","slug":"news-9807","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.palada.net\/index.php\/2019\/08\/12\/news-9807\/","title":{"rendered":"Investing in Our Future by Mentoring Our Future"},"content":{"rendered":"

Credit to Author: Kevin Self| Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2019 12:00:31 +0000<\/strong><\/p>\n

The world\u2019s biggest problems need strong STEM educated women and men to solve them.<\/p>\n

So how can we develop our next generation of problem solvers?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Personally, I believe organizations like FIRST Robotics are the best solution to truly create the problem solvers of the future.\u00a0 FIRST engages young girls and boys to work collaboratively <\/em>to solve problems.\u00a0 Their robotics programs begin in grade school with Legos, up through high school where students build and program 100+ pound robots.\u00a0 But it\u2019s more than just robots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t use kids to build robots. I use robots to build kids.\u201d
– Dean Kamen,
Founder of FIRST Robotics<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

FIRST is a global program, with 550,000+ students in over 100 countries.\u00a0 FIRST unites students of all cultural backgrounds on the laws of physics, math, and science.\u00a0 It provides a playing field where they can work together, teach other, and come to a solution based on these scientific principles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST, and I<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

What is FIRST?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

FIRST Robotics<\/a>, where FIRST stands for \u201cFor Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology\u201d was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen.\u00a0 Dean has held many titles over the years including serial inventor, owner of 440 patents, inventor of the Segway, inventor of Slingshot, inventor of the I-Bot, and founder of DEKA Research & Development.\u00a0 Dean connected with Dr. Woodie Flowers (MIT emeritus professor) because he saw a great gap in the supply of STEM educated students with the demand of these positions in the coming future.\u00a0 He also saw the US schools \u201coverly\u201d celebrating athletics and NOT celebrating academics.\u00a0 So, he devised an organization where \u201call participants can turn pro\u201d and FIRST Robotics was born.<\/p>\n

My Involvement with FIRST \u2013 \u201cA Family Affair\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I became engaged with FIRST in 2001 when my then 9-year old came home from school and said we needed to start a FIRST Robotics team\u2026 with Legos.\u00a0 I became the lead mentor and my long term FIRST relationship began.\u00a0 My wife also became involved, and our 3 sons all became very engaged with FIRST and ALL<\/em> say their experience with FIRST was a critical part of their choice to become engineers:<\/p>\n