FIRST® Tech Challenge Team 17792 “Amigos Droids” of Belo Horizonte, Brazil celebrate winning the Inspire Award at the 2026 FIRST® Championship presented by BAE Systems in Houston.
HOUSTON, May 2, 2026 – FIRST®, a global robotics community preparing young people for the future, welcomed a record attendance of more than 51,000 people and more than 1,100 robots to Houston this week as as youth robotics teams from around the world gathered at the George R. Brown Convention Center to celebrate and compete in the 2026 FIRST Championship presented by BAE Systems.
The annual four-day event combines on-field competition, team and sponsor exhibits, student celebrations, and hands-on experiences, bringing participants, educators, and industry leaders together after months of preparation across FIRST programs.
“There is no other experience like FIRST Championship,” said Chris Moore, chief executive officer at FIRST. “Each year, I’m struck by the passion, energy, and scale made possible by our sponsors and the broader FIRST community. That consistent support nurtures an environment where students are solving problems in real time, adapting, and supporting one another. It’s what happens when young people are given the opportunity to build something real."
Saturday’s closing events put the spotlight on the FIRST® Robotics Competition and FIRST® Tech Challenge international championship finals, where middle and high school teams competed in front of a full stadium of cheering fans. Four teams from Ventura, California; Madera, California; Minneola, Florida; and San Diego, California, were the FIRST Robotics Competition Winning Alliance for this year’s game, REBUILTTM presented by the Gene Haas Foundation, and teams from Austin, Texas; Braila, Romania; and Zeeland, Michigan, were the FIRST Tech Challenge Winning Alliance for DECODETM presented by RTX.
More than 19,000 students took part in the event across the three programs, including FIRST® LEGO® League, with teams earning honors for robot design, competitive play, research, business plans, creativity, and teamwork. (See “2026 FIRST Championship Winners” section below).
“Building the future workforce starts with investing in students today,” said Cortney Miller, director of Community Investment for BAE Systems. “FIRST Championship provides invaluable, hands-on experiences that empower students to develop the skills, confidence, and awareness needed for lifelong careers in STEM. We’re proud to support this important journey.”
Chris Moore, chief executive officer at FIRST®, greets a team at 2026 FIRST Championship in Houston.
2025-2026 FIRST® AGE™ Presented by Qualcomm
Every year, FIRST builds its robotics season around a real-world theme, challenging students to apply science, technology, engineering, and math to ideas that extend beyond the classroom. The 2025-2026 season, FIRST® AGE™ presented by Qualcomm, drew inspiration from archaeology, inviting teams to explore how discoveries from the past can inform innovation for the future.
Across all programs, students spent months preparing for competition, developing technical skills, conducting research, and refining their ideas through local, regional, and international FIRST events. From early design and testing to live matches and presentations, participants engaged in hands-on, team-based problem solving that reflects how challenges are approached in the real world.
“At Qualcomm, we believe innovation starts when young people are encouraged to explore new ideas and tackle real-world challenges,” said Angela Baker, vice president, corporate responsibility and chief sustainability officer at Qualcomm. “Through programs like FIRST, students gain hands-on experience, develop technical and teamwork skills, and discover how their curiosity can drive positive change. Supporting this journey means investing in the next generation of leaders and problem-solvers.”
2026-2027 Season Announcement
During Saturday’s closing ceremony, FIRST unveiled its upcoming 2026-2027 season, FIRST® CANOPY™, introducing a new global theme focused on biodiversity. The announcement offered teams a first look at how they will explore the natural world through STEM in the year ahead.
Mission-Driven Supporter Awards
FIRST Championship honored significant supporters of the FIRST mission:
Student and Robotics Team Awards
Select 2026 team and student winners of the competitions and awards announced in Houston are listed below. Visit the award links provided for additional recipients:
FIRST alum, robotics professor, and Survivor 50 fan favorite, Christian Hubicki, spoke at the FIRST Leadership Award Ceremony at the 2026 FIRST Championship in Houston.
FIRST Leadership Award – This student leadership award celebrates the dedication and individual contributions of outstanding secondary school students participating on FIRST Tech Challenge or FIRST Robotics Competition teams.
“Leadership and Gracious Professionalism are among the most foundational skills I gained during my time in FIRST, still guiding me at the robotics and mechatronics lab I lead today,” said Christian Hubicki, FIRST alum and recent fan-favorite contestant on CBS’ Survivor 50, who spoke at the FIRST Leadership Award Ceremony. “I’m thrilled to be back at FIRST Championship, an event I last attended in 2002. It has gotten bigger and the technology more sophisticated, but the enthusiasm and spirit are exactly the same.”
Winners from FIRST Robotics Competition:
Winners from FIRST Tech Challenge:
FIRST® Robotics Competition
FIRST Robotics Competition (ages 14-18) combines sports excitement with the rigors of science and technology. Working with adult mentors, students have limited time to design, build, program, and test their robots to meet the season’s challenge, released each January.
In the 2026 game REBUILT™, teams designed and built industrial-sized robots to reimagine and reconstruct elements of the past through high-energy, alliance-based matches. The presenting sponsor for the FIRST Robotics Competition season was the Gene Haas Foundation.
Student-built FIRST® Robotics Competition robots collect “fuel” game pieces to score points during a FIRST Championship qualifying match as part of the REBUILT™ presented by Haas season.
This year, more than 3,700 FIRST Robotics teams competed in regional and district events, with 600 teams advancing to FIRST Championship. They competed in rotating alliances in one of eight divisions for several matches to earn ranking points and advance to final playoffs.
Within their divisions, FIRST Robotics Competition teams earned additional match-based and judged awards, including Championship Division Winner, Engineering Inspiration Award, Rookie All Star Award, and Gracious Professionalism® Award.
View a list of winning teams by division: Archimedes Division presented by Rockwell Automation | Curie Division presented by The Argosy Foundation | Daly Division presented by BAE Systems | Galileo Division presented by Mouser Electronics | Hopper Division presented by GE Aerospace | Johnson Division sponsored by Gene Haas Foundation | Milstein Division presented by Qualcomm | Newton Division presented by NASA.
FIRST® Tech Challenge
FIRST Tech Challenge (ages 12-18) students learn to think as engineers. Teams design, build, and program classroom-scale robots, then pair up with alliance partners to compete in a dynamic, themed challenge released every September.
In the 2025-2026 game, DECODE™, teams investigated the power of artifacts, using engineering and programming to explore how discoveries from the past can inform innovation for the future. The presenting sponsor of the FIRST Tech Challenge 2025-2026 season was RTX.
Approximately 9,600 FIRST Tech Challenge teams participated this year, with 342 teams advancing to FIRST Championship, where they competed in rotating alliances in one of six divisions across multiple days of game play to earn ranking points and advance to final playoffs.
Within their divisions, FIRST Tech Challenge teams earned additional match-based and judged awards, including Division Winning Alliance, Design Award, and Connect Award.
View a list of winning teams by division: Edison Division sponsored by GE Aerospace | Franklin Division sponsored by John Deere | Goodall Division sponsored by BAE Systems | Jackson Division sponsored by Qualcomm | Lovelace Division sponsored by CrunchLabs | Ross Division
FIRST® LEGO® League
FIRST LEGO League (ages 5-16, varies by region) introduces younger students to real-world engineering challenges by inviting them to conduct research projects and build robots using LEGO® bricks and technology to complete tasks on a thematic playing surface. FIRST LEGO League teams, guided by their imaginations, discover exciting possibilities and learn to make positive contributions to society.
FIRST® LEGO® League team “Eagles Tech” from Paraguay competes in UNEARTHED™ at the 2026 FIRST Championship in Houston.
In this year’s season, UNEARTHED™, more than 70,000 student teams examined how each tool, innovation, and work of art connects us to the people and ideas that came before us. Through critical thinking and design skills, students uncovered the past to discover the future.
FIRST LEGO League Global Program Sponsors are LEGO® Education and The LEGO® Foundation. The FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Division Sponsor is Rockwell Automation.
160 FIRST LEGO League Challenge division teams (ages 9-16) competed at this week’s event through robot matches, Innovation Project presentations, and FIRST Core Values activities.
40 FIRST® LEGO® League Explore division teams (ages 6-10) investigated the past as if they were a team of archaeologists and presented what they learned on their team journey through a team poster and motorized LEGO® model.
The Core Values Award, Team Poster Award, Team Model Award, Coding Award, and Challenge Solution Award were presented during a ceremony honoring all exhibiting FIRST LEGO League Explore teams.
Visit the FIRST LEGO League blog for a full list of Challenge and Division award recipients, coming soon.
For more from FIRST Championship, watch highlights and follow FIRST on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
2026 FIRST Championship Sponsors
The 2026 FIRST Championship is presented by BAE Systems. The Lead Sponsor is Mouser Electronics. Co-Sponsors include America’s Navy, The Argosy Foundation, Coca Cola Company, CrunchLabs, DoW STEM, Emerson/NI, GE Aerospace, The Gene Haas Foundation, John Deere, Lockheed Martin, Molex, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Qualcomm Incorporated, Rockwell Automation, TE Connectivity, and The United Therapeutics Corporation. Friends of FIRST include Houston First, Johnson & Johnson, and PwC. Aramco is a supporter of the 2026 FIRST Championship.
2025-2026 FIRST Strategic Partners
The 3M Company, Apple, The Argosy Foundation, BAE Systems, Bechtel Group Foundation, The Boeing Company, Caterpillar, Inc. DEKA Research & Development Corporation, DoW STEM, Dow, FedEx Corporation, The Gene Haas Foundation, General Motors Company, Google.org, John Deere, LEGO Education, Medtronic, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), NI, Novelis Inc., Qualcomm Incorporated, RTX, Rockwell Automation, Inc., and TE Connectivity.
Save the Date for the 2027 FIRST Championship: April 28 - May 1, 2027, Houston
About FIRST®
FIRST® is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future. FIRST provides life-changing, team-based K-12 robotics programs that give young people the skills, confidence, and resilience to build a better world. Boosted by a global support system of volunteers, educators, donors, and sponsors, teams operate under a signature set of FIRST Core Values to conduct research, fundraise, design, build, and showcase their achievements during annual challenges.
An international not-for-profit organization founded in 1989, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) has a proven impact on STEM learning, interest, and skill-building well beyond high school. Participants and alumni of FIRST programs gain access to education and career discovery opportunities, connections to exclusive scholarships and employers, and a place in the FIRST community for life. Learn more at firstinspires.org.