FIRST Technology Challenge

Why has FIRST Tech Challenge added a waitlist component to the World Championship? In April of 2016, FIRST announced the addition of a second FIRST Championship. We did this so that we could make the life-changing excitement and inspiration of the FIRST Championship more accessible, available, and affordable to more kids and teams. This decision doubled the number of spots available for FIRST Tech Challenge teams at the World Championship, and created some interesting opportunities for advancement. Our FIRST Tech Challenge Super-Regionals were instituted over three years ago to address the growing number of Regional Championships, and the relatively smaller number of teams advancing to the next level. It solved that problem with great success as we head into year four of the Super-Regional format. This year FIRST Tech Challenge will expand the percentage of teams advancing from countries outside North America, expand the percentage of teams advancing from Super-Regionals, and institut...

Dear FIRST Tech Challenge Community,  Super-Regional events were implemented in  FIRST  Tech Challenge starting with competitions held in 2014. Those hosts have done wonderful jobs creating an entirely new competition level within the program. This has allowed us to expand our capacity, provide teams more chances to compete, and continue to have a merit based path to World Championships . The success of Super-Regionals has cemented this competition level into the progression of  FIRST  Tech Challenge events. Our original four Super-Regional hosts agreed to three-years of hosting. This allowed them longer planning windows and leveraged the strong, cross-regional, organizing committees formed for this purpose. As we wind down the first three year cycle we've been working on the next three year cycle. The process to select the next series of Super-Regional hosts was lengthy, and covered most of 2015. We had hosting bids from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Georgia, Iowa,...

Enter the FedEx Innovation Challenge to win big money and prizes! The 2016 FedEx Innovation Challenge , an interactive social-media competition, is back and this year will be open to all FRC and FTC teams in the US. The Innovation Challenge takes place from January 9 – February 21, 2016.   Part problem solving, part creative challenge , this fun and engaging competition will consist of math and science problems, scavenger hunt activities, and more. Best of all, it’s super easy to play. Participating teams are required to submit responses in the form of a photo using either Twitter or Instagram. All responses will be judged on the accuracy of the answer, creativity of the response and the level of team participation and spirit. Prizes:     $5,000 and a VIP experience trip to FIRST Championship     $3,000, a roboRIO controller and a Dell Alienware laptop     $1,000, a roboRIO controller and a Dell Alienware laptop All entries are submitted via Instagram...

In case you missed the big news in the most recent FTC Team e-mail blast, I want to take this opportunity to let you know that FTC Teams are now eligible to compete alongside FRC Teams for the Media and Technology Award, Sponsored by Comcast/NBCUniversal (formerly the FRC Website Award)! This award recognizes the FRC or FTC Team that develops and implements the most outstanding digital experience, marketing strategy and rationale for digital channels to share the FIRST  mission with the public.  It will be awarded to the team that looks beyond just their team website and takes into account the various ways people search for and consume content. The award was originally started in 2003 as the FRC Website Award.  As technology advanced and people changed the ways in which they consume media, the award expanded to include digital media as well.  The Comcast Corporation began sponsoring the award in 2013 and this year, the award received its name makeover and eligibility...