DATE: March 30, 2009

CONTACT: Steve Melsheimer, 864-654-4973
ssmls@clemson.edu

WRITER: Susan Polowczuk, 864-656-2063
spolowc@clemson.edu

Winners in Palmetto Regional FIRST Robotics Competition at Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. — More than 1,000 students and 44 robots invaded Littlejohn Coliseum this past weekend, and now science and math are cooler than ever.

Clemson University hosted the sixth annual FIRST Robotics Competition Palmetto Regional March 26-28. Forty-four teams representing nine states (Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Tennessee and West Virginia) and Brazil participated. (Related video: Scenes from the competition.)

Regional winners of the competition included the alliance of three teams: team 1771 from North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Ga; team 2415 from the Westminster Schools-High School in Atlanta, Ga.; and team 21 from Astronaut and Titusville high schools in Titusville, Fla.

These three teams now have the opportunity to compete in the international championship competition April 16-18 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Worldwide, more than 35,000 high school students participate on more than 1,500 teams in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands and England.

In the finals, the winning alliance defeated the alliance of teams 3025 of Decatur and Austin high schools in Decatur, Ala.; team 1379 of Norcross High School and Gwinnett County public schools; and team 2815 of Richland County School District 1 in Columbia.

Team 1676 comprised of students from Pascack Valley Regional High School District in Montvale, N.J., won the Regional Chairman’s Award and earned a bid to the international competition. The Regional Chairman’s Award is the most prestigious award offered in the regional competition.

Team 281 comprised of students from Greenville Technical, Wade Hampton, J.L. Mann and Southside high schools in Greenville won the Regional Engineering and Inspiration Award, which earns them a bid to the international competition. The award celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering in a team’s school and community.

The Rookie All Star Award went to team 2815 from Richland Country School District 1. The award earned the team a bid to the international competition in Atlanta.

The Volunteer of the Year Award went to Camilla Hertwig of the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University and a Palmetto Partners board member.

The Judge’s Award for unique efforts and performance went to team 1319 of Mauldin.

For the full list of award winners go to: http://www2.usfirst.org/2009comp/events/SC/awards.html.

In this year's game, student robots were designed to compete in a game called “Lunacy” that aimed to launch as many moon rocks as possible into opposing robots in a specified amount of time. The teams received the same kit of parts and had six weeks to design and assemble their robots, which could be no heavier than 120 pounds.

Teams were judged not only on point accumulation, but also on design, team spirit, professionalism and perseverance.

For more information on the competition, go to the FIRST Web site at: www.usfirst.org, FIRST Robotics Competition, or http://www.ces.clemson.edu/main/FRC/index.html.