A video contest for FIRST® teams to share big ideas for improving communities and our world

Today’s elementary, middle school, and high school students are tomorrow’s scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. And with the right combination of training and ingenuity, these burgeoning innovators will be the ones to help solve our world’s most complex and pressing problems. Programs like FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) are helping students develop skills and knowledge they won’t get from a textbook: creativity, collaboration, persistence, and confidence that they can accomplish anything if they put their minds to it.

The Engineering Our Future™ video contest was designed to ignite the imaginations of this next generation of innovators and get them thinking about how they will apply the engineering skills they’re learning through FIRST to make a difference in their communities and our world. As an added bonus, teams had the chance to win team grants – Rockwell Automation awarded $10,000 to the winning teams as follows:

Contest Results

More than 140 FIRST teams from around the world submitted their ideas for how they will use engineering to change the world. After tallying thousands of votes, we are pleased to announce the winning entries that will be award team grants:

FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)
First Place ($5,000 USD) “A Bulwark for the Brain,” Steel Hawks
Second Place ($1,000 USD) “FIRST Foot”, Bonny Eagle Robotics Team (B.E.R.T)
Third Place ($500 USD) “REFRESH-772’s Way to Help,” Sabre Bytes

FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC)
First Place ($1,000 USD) “Robosave,” Team AutoVortex
Second Place ($750 USD) “Engineering in 60 Seconds,” Lazybots
Third Place ($275 USD) “Light Up Crosswalk,” Kidz 4 Change 4-H Robotics

FIRST LEGO League (FLL)
First Place ($850 USD) “ED the Earthquake Detector,” Team Mechanical
Second Place ($400 USD) “Safety Hazard Solution,” Tsunami Squad
Third Place ($225 USD) “Tornado Safe,” Sycamore Brickbusters

A big thank you to all teams that submitted videos and to everyone who voted to show their support!

About the Contest

Rockwell Automation invited FIRST teams participating in FIRST LEGO League (FLL), FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC), and FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) to create and submit a short video that answers the question: What could your team engineer that would have a positive impact on your community and our world?

Participating teams competed in a public vote to determine who will win the team grants. The voting period ran from Tuesday, Nov. 12 through Friday, Nov. 29. Winners were selected after tallying votes that fell within our voting policy and rule of one vote per day per individual. The top three teams from each program with the most votes were awarded a one-time team grant to be applied the 2014-2015 season for FTC and FRC teams or the 2014-2015 season for FLL teams.

If you have any questions, please contact us at rafirst@ra.rockwell.com.