FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 1629 recently traveled to St. Louis, MO for the 2011 FIRST World Championships where they competed in the Archimedes Division, and achieved a 7-3 record.

Their robot’s performance earned the team the 19th rank out of 88 teams in their division. Separate from their robot’s gallant performance, the team was very honored to receive the 2011 Championship’s Engineering Inspiration (EI) Award. According to FIRST, the Engineering Inspiration Award recognizes a team’s outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community. This is the second most prestigious award a team can receive from FIRST at the World Championship and was won from over 350 teams competing from the United States, Canada, South America, Europe and Asia.

During the 2011 FRC season Team 1629 also competed in the Pittsburgh and Buckeye Regional events. The Pittsburgh Regional held in Pittsburgh, PA, was the first competition of the year for the team where they garnered a 5-8 record and lost in the quarter finals round of the competition, and also won the Rockwell Automation Innovation in Control Award, celebrating an innovative control system or application of control components to provide unique machine functions. At the Buckeye Regional held in Cleveland, OH, Team 1629 had a 6-3 record and ended up losing in the semi-finals. At Cleveland’s Buckeye Regional the team also received the Xerox Creativity Award and the Regional’s Engineering Inspiration (EI) Award. The regional EI award qualified the team to compete in the World Championships.

Team 1629, nicknamed “GaCo” - short for Garrett Coalition, is comprised of students from both Northern High School and Southern High School. The team puts their rivalry aside to work together and compete at a high level against teams from around the world.

According to the team, “none of this would be possible without the support of our wonderful partners and sponsors, and we would like to personally thank everyone involved in making their program such a success. Without your donations and support we would not be able to compete at such a high level.”

Team 1629 would also like to thank Dr. Wendell Teets, Superintendent of Garrett County Schools, for his continued support of the FIRST program. In the FRC team’s seven year history, Dr. Teets has never missed a competition, let alone a single match that the team has competed in. The team states, “Dr. Teets will be sorely missed, but we hope you enjoy your well deserved retirement.”

Garrett County was well represented at the FIRST World Championships, with four teams in various FIRST programs. Team 1629 would like to congratulate FIRST Tech Challenge Teams Techno Clovers and G-Force for being finalists in their division, and FIRST Lego League (FLL) Team NeXT GEN who received the third place Strategy and Innovation Award. The FRC team encourages these teams to “keep up the great work and continue to make Garrett County proud.”

Teams were treated to a surprise “half-time” performance by Willow Smith and the Black Eyed Peas to help celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the FIRST Robotics Competition. This celebration was recorded for a TV special by NBC for a broadcast in August.