Out to New England FRC teams...

NE FIRST Things FIRST

Week of May 4, 2015

Preparing for Next Season

The 2015 FRC season has officially come to a close, so we're starting to organize for this upcoming year! If your team is interested in hosting a 2016 Kickoff event on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016 or mentoring a rookie team, please contact your local Regional Director (listed at the bottom of the email). If your team is interested in hosting a pre-season event, contact Scott Heaton at sheaton@nefirst.org.

Beantown Blitz 2015

The Beantown Blitz 2015 post-season event will be held on Saturday, June 20. As an important note, the venue this year will be changed to Revere High School in Revere, MA.

There will be 36 spots available for the Blitz, and the event will keep many of the same traditions including 6-8 qualification matches per team, a Mentor Match lunchtime tournament, full elimination bracket and probably even a few 'golden' touches to the game.

Event registration will be $250 and teams and volunteers can sign up by emailing beantownblitz@gmail.com. Check the website and Chief Delphi thread in the next few days for more updates!

Air Force Leadership Training Program for FIRST Teachers & Mentors

The U.S. Air Force is offering an Air Force Leadership opportunity for a select group of 14 FRC and 14 FTC Teachers and Mentors who are helping inspire today's youth to become the technical leaders of tomorrow. The workshop will be held from Sunday, July 12 to Wednesday, July 15, including travel days, at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and an Air Force Base in the Colorado Springs area. The seminar is at no cost to the selectee and travel costs within the continental United States (airfare, lodging, meals) are paid by the U.S. Air Force.

To be eligible, you must be a FTC and/or FRC mentor who is a K-12 teacher; be willing to commit to the full workshop and be able to travel to the location from within the U.S.; and not be a previous participant of this leadership experience. Online applications must be submitted by Wednesday, May 27.

SpaceX Internship for FIRST Seniors

Get an early start to every engineer's dream job by demonstrating your readiness and technical excellence through your participation in FRC or FTC, and earn the opportunity of a lifetime: working side by side with the one of world's most audacious engineering enterprises at SpaceX.

SpaceX is proud to partner with FIRST and support the development of the next generation of amazing engineers and innovators. In collaboration with leadership at FIRST, SpaceX will select 10-15 high school seniors each year who will receive preliminary acceptance to the SpaceX internship program; please see the FAQ's for details.

Applications should be submitted via email to FIRSTinternships@SpaceX.com including the applicant's name, phone number, and the requested information listed in the document for consideration. The deadline for applications is Monday, May 18. All applicants will be informed of their status by Wednesday, July 15.

TouchTomorrow - A festival of Science, Technology & Robots

TouchTomorrow, a family-friendly festival of hands-on technology and exhibits in celebration of the NASA Sample Return Robot Challenge, will take place at WPI in Worcester, MA on June 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will feature exhibits from NASA and WGBH Education/PBS Learning Media; an open house of research labs at WPI targeted towards middle- and high-school students; interactive activities and projects for younger children; and a host of local and national exhibitors.

Be sure to RSVP to the event if you plan on coming. Additionally, teams interested in setting up an exhibit for the event should fill out the Exhibitor Registration form.

Massachusetts STEM Summit 2015 Demonstration Opportunity

The annual Massachusetts STEM Summit will be held at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA on Tuesday, November 10. This is often the largest STEM Education event of the year in New England.

NE FIRST has requested a display table in the resource exhibit area, which will allow room for a couple of FIRST robots to be displayed. If your team would be interested, contact Steve Cremer at scremer@nefirst.org ASAP. Additionally, if your team or another group you are affiliated with might be interested in requesting your own table for a display, proposals are due by next Friday, May 15. Guidelines for submitting proposals and the proposal form can be found on the website. Results of the review process are expected to be announced no later than July 31, 2015.

This will be an excellent opportunity for your school or affiliated group, as well as your team, to share what is happening with STEM Education in your community.

FIRST Graduation Cords Reminder

BrandIt now offers FIRST Graduation Cords to help FIRST Teams recognize their graduating seniors/rising FIRST Alumni and honor individual participation in our programs! Eligibility criteria for use of the graduation cords should be determined by each team/school to be possibly used in team functions or high school graduation ceremonies.

These tri-color cords are red, blue, and silver and go for $14 each, with discounts for orders of 144 or more for teams interested in coordinating group orders. Teams can purchase the cords on the US FIRST Marketplace.

NE FIRST in the News

FRC Team 3654, the TechTigers from Mercy High School, led a workshop at the Girls in STEM Expo, an event hosted by the University of Saint Joseph in association with the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund (CWEALF).

Has your team been recently featured in the news? Submit the article or video to Lauren Jefferson at ljefferson@usfirst.org to have it included in an upcoming email.

Upcoming Events

CT State Championship

Saturday, May 16

Berlin High School

139 Patterson Way, Berlin, CT 06037

Volunteer Sign-Up

BattleCry@WPI

Saturday, May 23 & Sunday, May 24

WPI Harrington Auditorium

100 Institute Rd, Worcester, MA 01609

Website

Registration Link