He Blogs Again By Night...: Derek White, bits,bytes&JVMs

Just a reminder that the Colorado FIRST Robotics Regional competitions are this weekend! This is a free chance to see high school students compete with "gracious professionalism", as well as watch their adult mentors wears funny outfits and tear their remaining hair out.

Just 31 minutes from the Broomfield campus (says Google).

Date	Event	Venue	Location
Mar 28	Colorado FRC Regional	University of Denver, Ritchie Center	Denver, CO

There are more details at FIRST Robotics @ Sun , especially the Event tips page.

(Burlington High School, Team 2876, Boston FRC Regional)

Just a reminder that the Silicon Valley FIRST Robotics Regional competitions are this weekend! Don't miss out on a great chance to watch students turn into engineers - oh, and some robots compete also :-)

Date	Event	Venue	Location
Mar 14	Silicon Valley FRC Regional	San Jose State U, The Event Center	San Jose, CA

There are more details at FIRST Robotics @ Sun , especially the Event tips page.

Xconomy.com had a nice write up of last year's FIRST Robotics Regional in Boston. Maybe they'll promote this year's events in Boston, San Diego, and Seattle.

Just a reminder that the Boston and San Diego FIRST Robotics Regional competitions are this weekend. I'll be visiting the local Sun-related teams in Boston.

Date	Event	Venue	Location
Mar 7	Boston Regional	Boston U., Agganis Arena	Boston, MA
Mar 7	San Diego Regional	San Diego Sports Arena	San Diego, CA

There are more details at FIRST Robotics @ Sun , especially the Event tips page.

[Sorry for the repost - going out to the Sun Labs blogroll this time...]

Re: FIRST Robotics Events Over Next Few Weeks.

If you're thinking about going to a competition, it helps to know the rules for the game (it changes every year).  Here's a 3 minute overview:

Just a reminder that the Boston and San Diego FIRST Robotics Regional competitions are this weekend. I'll be visiting the local Sun-related teams in Boston...[Read More]

This is the time of year when the FIRST Robotics Competitions start the regional championships. This is where six weeks of hard work by high-school students and their mentors are put to the test - complete with loud music, cheer leading, flashing lights and major enthusiasm.

If you've ever been curious to learn more about these robotics teams - for your kids, or for yourself as a potential volunteer, this is the way to find out. It's fun and it's free!

 Here's a short list of events near major Sun campuses:

Date Event Venue Location Feb 28 Granite State Regional Verizon Wireless Arena Manchester, NH Mar 7 Boston Regional Boston U., Agganis Arena Boston, MA Mar 7 San Diego Regional San Diego Sports Arena San Diego, CA Mar 14 Silicon Valley Regional San Jose State U, The Event Center San Jose, CA Mar 28 Colorado Regional University of Denver, Ritchie Center Denver, CO There are more detail at the FIRST Robotics @ Sun Wiki, especially the Event tips page. You can search for all events at the FIRST website.

I've started a public Wiki FIRST Robotics @ Sun for Sun employees, alumni, and family to learn and sharing information about getting involved with the various great FIRST robotics organizations:

• FIRST Robotics Competition - FRC ( high-school )
• FIRST Tech Challenge - FTC ( high-school )
• FIRST LEGO League - FLL ( ages 9-14 )
• Junior FIRST LEGO League -JFLL ( ages 6-9 )

I can't say enough good things about FIRST - their goal to inspire kids to learn about science and technology meshes really well with Sun's goals and with the engineering mindset of many employees. FIRST is always looking for volunteers to mentor teams and impart that engineering mindset. So check out the wiki!