News from
New York City / New Jersey FIRST
January 2007

Happy New Year Everyone!!

This month's newsletter contains highlights of the many ways in which the dedication of hundreds of FIRST volunteers and the generosity of our sponsors impact the lives of thousands of kids throughout the metropolitan region.

Be part of the FIRST experience. Help celebrate the achievements of our young men and women working smart in science and technology. Come out and join us at any of our upcoming communitywide celebrations:

January 26, 2008
New York City FIRST LEGO League Championship
For more information: Click here

February 9, 2008
New Jersey FIRST Tech Challenge
For more information: Click here

February 29-March 1, 2008
New Jersey FIRST Robotics Competition
For more information: Click here

April 5-6, 2008
New York City FIRST Robotics Competition
For more information:  Click here
New York City FIRST Science & Technology Career Expo
For more information: Click here

April 5, 2008
New York City FIRST Tech Challenge
For more information: Click here

FIRST Scholarships

Did you know that there are more than 90 colleges, universities, professional organizations, and corporations offering more than 450 individual scholarship opportunities valued at more than $9 million to FIRST high school students?

You didn't !!!??

Maybe you know a FIRST student planning on going to college next year who could use a financial boost.

Click here to learn more about FIRST scholarship opportunities.

ASME Scholarship Winners at NJIT

Through their work with FIRST, John Czernikowski, Eric Romansky, and Seth Zubatkin earned prestigious scholarships from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and are currently freshmen at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).

Before becoming teammates on Team #75 at Hillsborough High School, Seth and John shared an interest in mechanics and cars. While in high school, John and Seth had the opportunity of traveling to Porto Allegre, Brazil to help the Rio Grade do Sol Department of Science and Technology bring FIRST to schools across Brazil.

Read more about the NJIT students...

FIRST Alumni Take on DARPA Challenge

FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) alumni Gordon Franken and Ian Ferguson were part of the team of Princeton University engineering students that advanced to the semifinals of the 2007 DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) Urban Challenge.  

This year's challenge was to create a fully autonomous vehicle that would travel 60 miles in under 6 hours over a course containing obstacles typically present in urban areas, such as bushes, traffic signals, intersections, pedestrians, and other traffic. The 2007 DARPA challenge is the third in a series of competitions held to foster the development of autonomous robotic ground vehicle technology to save lives on the battlefield.

More about the DARPA Challenge...

NYC FIRST Completes FIRST LEGO League Borough Qualifying Events

Eighty FIRST LEGO League middle school teams from across the five boroughs have successfully qualified to compete at the 2008 New York City FIRST LEGO League Championship to be held January 26, 2008 at Riverbank State Park.

For details and photos highlighting the FLL qualifying tournaments across the City, please follow the links below:

Bronx: Details | Photos
Brooklyn: Details | Photos
Manhattan: Details | Photos
Queens: Details | Photos
Staten Island: Details | Photos

Come out and join the celebration!

2008 New York City FIRST LEGO League Championship
January 26, 2008
Riverbank State Park
(West 145th & Riverside Drive)
For details, click here

DATA INC. Golf Outing

Before sunrise on Friday, September 21, friends of FIRST began to gather at the Royce Brook Country Club in Hillsborough, NJ for the DATA INC. Charity Golf Invitational. This special fundraiser to benefit New York City / New Jersey FIRST was hosted by Arun Verma, the President and CEO of DATA INC. George Nikanorov led the company's spirited team in planning and running a great outing.

Click here for more about DATA INC...

A Most Inspiring FIRST Volunteer!

Dora Abreu, national secretary for the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, truly knows how to inspire others.  She got involved with FIRST several years ago when she helped mentor the FIRST Robotics team at Thomas Edison Vocational Technical High School in Queens.  Since then she has served as a judge at regional events and at the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA. Dora now chairs our New York City FIRST Governmental Affairs Committee.

Last year, Dora was chosen as "One of the Ten Most Inspiring Women in a nationwide competition sponsored by Maybelline. Each of the ten selected inspirational women got to choose a non-profit organization to receive a $10,000 from L'Oreal, the parent company of Maybelline. Dora chose New York City FIRST.

Read more about Dora...

FIRST volunteers and sponsors are filled with community spirit and dedication to the welfare of our youth. It is nothing short of inspiring. Everyday we are reminded of how caring our community is.

Best wishes for a wonderful 2008!