Based in Manchester, NH, FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to encouraging young people to dream of becoming science and technology leaders.

One of the unique ethos of FIRST is "gracious professionalism." Gracious professionalism blends competition with respect, a philosophy that carries through for a lifetime.

FIRST holds four competitions for different age groups.

FRC (First Robotics Competition) High schoolers work with mentors to solve a challenge in 6 weeks using a kit with parts that every team in the competition also receives. Each year is a different challenge with different rules.

FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) FTC is very similar to the FRC but with a more affordable robotics kit. It was first called the "First Vex Challenge."

FIRST Lego League (FLL) The FLL is designed to encourage enthusiasm for science and technology for children 9-14. They are exposed to real world issues and work together to build a robot considering those issues.

Junior FIRST Lego League (JFLL) Aimed at children 6-9 years old, the JFLL uses the problem from the FLL to design a model of one aspect of the challenge using LEGO set, in the process teaching teamwork and basic designing.

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