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Hall of Fame Nov. 7 2023| 0 KB

Content Type: FIRST Robotics Competition
Tags: Awards, Mentor, Team
(26)

 

The Hall of Fame celebrates past FIRST Championship FIRST Impact Award Winners (previously called the Chairman’s Award).​

The FIRST Impact Award is the most prestigious award in FIRST Robotics Competition. The award recognizes a team that reflects sustained excellence and impact within the FIRST community, in its own community, and beyond. These teams act as ambassadors by sharing their legacy as Hall of Fame members. They serve as role models and resources for other teams while educating the public in support of the FIRST mission. This award preserves the vision that FIRST Robotics Competition is about more than just building robots; it’s also building the people who will change the world. We celebrate these award winners and their transformative impact through the FIRST Hall of Fame.

At FIRST Championship, we recognize the Hall of Fame teams by hanging banners of all previous winners and hosting a booth space to allow other teams to interact with members from the Hall of Fame teams. 

For more information about the FIRST Impact Award, check out the Submitted Awards page for all the details or the FIRST Impact Award Resources page for an FAQ on the award and other helpful resources.

 

Hall of Fame Members (Past Winners of the FIRST Impact Award at FIRST Championship)

Click the expand/collapse box to learn more about each team and see their essay, video, and presentations (as applicable). 

Please note that from 1992 - 2022, this award was called the Chairman's Award. As such, for teams who won during those years, you will see references to the "Chairman's Award."

 

2023 - Team 321, RoboLancers - Philadelphia, PA, USA

Team 321, RoboLancers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA was honored to win the 2023 FIRST Championship FIRST Impact Award in Houston, Texas. 

The mission of the RoboLancers is to inspire and prepare the next generation of STEM leaders in Philadelphia. In 2023, the team supported 130+ inner city FIRST teams through a combination of funding, mentorship, coach training, workshops, and competition resources. The RoboLancers aim to build bridges that cross the unique barriers to STEM education within their community and are dedicated to creating equitable opportunities in STEM.

The team founded the Philadelphia Robotics Coalition, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, to further streamline their work. The team connects with their community by running programs in partnership with the School District of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Parks & Recreation. In the 2022-23 school year alone, RoboLancers members dedicated over 5,000 hours volunteering in support of their mission. The RoboLancers strive to create a thriving STEM ecosystem within Philadelphia by running a multitude of events, establishing institutional knowledge, and fostering a collaborative community.

To learn more about the RoboLancers, the Philadelphia Robotics Coalition, their programs and mission, please visit RoboLancers.com and RoboticsCoalition.org, or follow them on social media or contact them at info@robolancers.com.

 

321 Award Materials 

2022 - Team 1629, Garrett Coalition (GaCo) - Accident, Maryland, USA

Team 1629, Garrett Coalition, GaCo from Accident, Maryland, USA was honored to win the 2022 FIRST Championship Chairman's Award in Houston, Texas. GaCo is proud to represent Garrett County in its pursuit of making a positive difference in the lives of its youth. This is a win for every mentor, alumni, team member, family, and team supporter past and present. It recognizes years of dedicated young people and mentors who believed they could make a difference and still do.  We are so appreciative of the awesome support of our parents, mentors, sponsors, school system, and community.

Our high school robotics students help ensure elementary students gain the foundational skills they need for their success in STEM. Spatial reasoning, proportionality, and those computational thinking are vital to student success. Every year, GCPS high school robotics students teach highly engaging and impactful lessons to every third, fourth, and fifth-grade student in our school system. Our “STEM Waypoint” lessons and the “gadgets” our students use to teach these lessons which include a LEGO Top Spinner, a set of five cards that help teach the rudiments of binary numbers, AND, a set of LEGO calipers that exactly determine the Golden Ratio. For more information about GaCo, or if you would like student representatives from GaCo to share more about their robot and their vision for Garrett County and the central Appalachian region, please email: gaco@garrettcountyschools.org

 

 

1629 Award Materials 

2021 - Team 503, Frog Force - Novi, Michigan, USA

Team 503, Frog Force, from Novi, Michigan, was honored to win the Championship Chairman’s Award for the 2021 Detroit FIRST Championship. Despite the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic, they adapted old ways, and invented new ways, of connecting to their communities.

After building a sustainable progression of programs in their own city to feed their own team, Frog Force accepted the challenge to expand to traditionally underrepresented students.  They started over 50 FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge teams in nearby Detroit to feed FIRST Robotics Competition teams there, creating teams in community centers, then working with the school district to make FIRST robotics available to hundreds of students.  Expanding on this idea of starting FIRST programs in underserved communities, they created a FIRST Tech Challenge program in rural China.

 

503 Award Materials


 

2021 - Team 4613, Barker Redbacks - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Team 4613, Barker Redbacks from New South Wales, Australia, was honored to win the Championship Chairman’s Award for the 2021 Houston FIRST Championship.

 

4613 Award Materials

2019 - Team 1816, "The Green Machine" - Edina, Minnesota, USA

“The Green Machine” Team 1816, of Edina, Minnesota was awarded the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2019 Detroit FIRST Championship. The team was awarded for its commitment to STEM and FIRST on multiple levels, including year-round outreach; advocacy for FIRST program expansion in Minnesota and nationally, and transformational Core Values workshop both internally for the Team as well as more than 30 FIRST Robotics Competition teams nationally.

Year-round outreach and community programming, including STEM immersions in transitional housing facilities and camps for students with disabilities.

STEM Advocacy multi-year efforts resulting in adding language to the national Every Student Succeeds Act that releases Title IV, part A grant support for after-school mentored STEM activities, including FIRST, and language in the 2019 reauthorization of the Perkins Career and Technical Act that directs funding toward student technical training and workforce skills. In Minnesota, Team 1816 helped secure a $100,000 grant via the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to establish five Competitive Robotics Hubs throughout Minnesota, providing year-round practice facilities.

Development of its own Core Values (Respect, Trust, Inclusivity, Commitment, and Joy of Life) that provide structure to the Team’s mission to create bold, confident leaders who transform culture to promote, value, and celebrate STEM. The Green Machine formalized its Core Values in 2018 to cement the high value on the ethical underpinnings of what it means to be a FIRST Robotics team. Facilitated workshops initiated crucial conversations of how we wanted to operate as a team and operate within the greater FIRST community. Our workshop, shared with more than 30 other FIRST teams, continue to inspire “The Green Machine” to “redefine what greatness means.”

 

1816 Award Materials

2019 - Team 1902, Exploding Bacon - Orlando, Florida, USA

Exploding Bacon Team 1902 from Orlando, Florida was awarded the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2019 Houston FIRST Championship. The team received this award for their programs and culture that continue to fuel each generation’s passion for STEM and inspire them to become innovators in their own community.

To do this, Exploding Bacon built programs that multiplied their impact at FIRST events, online, and around the world. These programs included Exploding Science, Spark, and #FIRSTLikeAGirl.  Additionally, their emphasis on image and marketing extended the reach and amplified the impact of their programs, while also supporting fellow FIRST teams’ outreach endeavors.

Bacon initially began Exploding Science as an outreach program in their local community. It quickly became a core initiative, teaching exciting science concepts to students after school and eventually adding LEGO EV3 robotics design to create a full Summer Camp curriculum for 8-12 year olds. Many participants of the summer camps went on to join FIRST LEGO League Teams and eventually join Exploding Bacon, strengthening the FIRST pipeline in the Central Florida area.

In 2014, Bacon expanded Exploding Science and created the Spark Science kits. This global outreach initiative was designed to send reusable, shoebox-sized science kits to students with few resources. Initially created to send alongside mission trips launched from their community, Spark transformed into a program improving the accessibility of STEM education and demonstrating the true power of the FIRST community. Exploding Bacon has worked alongside FIRST teams and other organizations to send 154 Spark kits to 49 countries.

In 2016, Exploding Bacon created the #FIRSTLikeAGirl program to encourage more girls and women to get involved in STEM. Through this social media campaign, they strive to empower girls with the confidence to overcome cultural pressures, follow their dreams in STEM, and become active members of the FIRST community. The #FIRSTLikeAGirl YouTube channel features over 100 videos of students, mentors, and alumni in the FIRST community sharing their stories. Additionally, the #FIRSTLikeAGirl social media accounts have garnered global attention yielding over one million impressions per month in 2019.

While their programs were initially designed to directly inspire the next generation of STEM leaders, Exploding Bacon has successfully amplified their efforts by creating programs that resonate with other FIRST teams. The ultimate resources in FIRST are the participants who inspire everyday. Exploding Bacon works to magnify this individual impact, creating a unifying force for cultural change. Cultivating global collaboration, fostering opportunity & magnifying inspiration. 

 

1902 Award Materials

2018 - Team 1311, Kell Robotics - Kennesaw, Georgia, USA

Kell Robotics Team 1311 from Kennesaw, Georgia won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2018 Houston FIRST Championship.

Team 1311 mentored 25 FIRST LEGO League teams, 1 FIRST Tech Challenge team, and 18 FIRST Robotics Competition teams. In addition to the teams they mentored, Team 1311 worked to provide resources for educators regarding the engineering design process. This program, in partnership with Kennesaw State University, provided 32 hours of professional credit. This, along with their various educational and workforce initiatives, is part of their continuous effort to spread FIRST‘s message throughout their community.

 

1311 Award Materials

2018 - Team 2834, Bionic Black Hawks - Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA

Bionic Black Hawks Team 2834 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2018 Detroit FIRST Championship. Team 2834 racked up over 1,000 mentor hours in 2017 alone whilst mentoring 14 FIRST LEGO League teams and 8 FIRST Tech Challenge teams. 

Full Steam Ahead is part of Team 2834’s initiative to spread FIRST’s message in a unique way. The show, which is fully student produced, filmed, and edited cable TV show, illustrates FIRST concepts through innovative labs and expert interviews.

 

2834 Award Materials

2017 - Team 2614, Mountaineer Area RoboticS (MARS) - Morgantown, WV, USA

Mountaineer Area Robotics (MARS) Team 2614 from Morgantown, West Virginia was honored with the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2017 St. Louis FIRST Championship.

The MARS mission is to inspire youth in rural and underserved areas around the world to pursue their creative and intellectual passions. MARS does this through community outreach and the development of technical programs designed for students to learn practical life skills. Using robotics as a foundation, MARS encourages West Virginia students to pursue post-secondary education. They helped incorporated LEGO Robotics and Core Values into the curriculum in 3 schools in their county, so much so that more children in the area compete in FIRST than in football. In addition to their strides in schools in their community, Team 2614 also hosts an off-season event unlike any other.

 

2614 Award Materials

2017 - Team 3132, Thunder Down Under - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Thunder Down Under Team 3132 from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia was honored with the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2017 Houston FIRST Championship.

Their RoboCamps encouraged a strong STEM education for kids in Sydney by starting FIRST LEGO League teams and the future FIRST Robotics Competition teams of tomorrow. They donated time, talent, and funds to various schools and programs in an effort to spread FIRST‘s message to their community

 

3132 Award Materials

2016 - Team 987, The High Rollers - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

High Rollers Team 987 from Las Vegas, Nevada won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2016 FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO.

They worked with politicians to establish tech academies throughout Nevada, and convinced state officials to allocate 2,000,000 dollars to these programs. They’ve also hosted RoboCamps in an effort to spread STEM to younger communities.

 

987 Award Materials

2015 - Team 597, Wolverines - Los Angeles, California, USA

Team 597: The Wolverines from Los Angeles, California won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2015 FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO.

Wolverines can provide guidance The Wolverines are all about helping and SHARE-ing with other teams, from diverse backgrounds. They Show How Awesome a Robotics Education can be by SHARE-ing resources and mentorship within their community and beyond. Some areas that Team 597 can help with are:

  • S.H.A.R.E: Team 597 can help teams with Showing How Awesome a Robotics Education can be
  • Safety: having a rich history of promoting safety, The Wolverines can help teams develop an exceptional safety program
  •  Entrepreneurship: Every team needs a sustainable financial plan. This can be daunting, especially for teams with low-income students, but the Wolverines can provide guidance

 

597 Award Materials

2014 - Team 27, Team RUSH - Clarkston, MI, USA

RUSH Team 27 from Clarkston, Michigan won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2014 FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO.

Students on the team organized 300+ FIRST related community events ranging from elementary robotics to Science Day demonstrations. They presented at more than 50 events in their statewide “robotics tour”, which was intended to encourage rookie growth in the state of Michigan.

Along with the events they’ve hosted and presented at, Team 27 developed a helpful system for other FIRST teams to spread the word about their team.

 

27 Award Materials

2013 - Team 1538, The Holy Cows - San Diego, CA, USA

The Holy Cows Team 1538 from San Diego, California won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2013 FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO.

They held workshops for teachers, helping them to incorporate FIRST ideals into the curriculum. In addition to the steps they took to spread FIRST throughout their community, Team 1538 also worked to better FIRST itself.

2012 - Team 1114, Simbotics - St Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Simbotics Team 1114 from St Catharines, Ontario, Canada won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2012 FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO.

At the time of their submission, they started 12 FIRST Robotics Competition teams and 47 FIRST LEGO League teams. Each student on the team worked side by side with a mentor to better their skills. The team focused on strong mentorship and dedication to the task at hand. In addition to the teams they mentored, Team 1114 worked hard to better FIRST Robotics Competition teams with whom they had no relation, thus encouraging FIRST‘s message.

2011 - Team 359, Hawaiian Kids - Waialua, Hawaii, USA

Hawaiian Kids Team 359 from Waialua, Hawaii won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2011 FIRST Championship in St. Louis, MO.

As the first organized robotics team in the State of Hawaii, they sparked the growth of 6 different robotics-related programs through our direct mentoring, workshops, and support of other teams, including acquiring nearly $9 million in funding for robotics in the state throughout our history. As a result, nearly 1/3 of the state’s K-12 schools now have a robotics program as part of their curriculum totaling over 750+ teams.

2010 - Team 341, Miss Daisy - Ambler, Pennsylvania, USA

Miss Daisy Team 341 from Ambler, Pennsylvania won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2010 FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA.

Team 341 mentored a dozen FIRST Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge teams prior to winning the award, and worked to reach out to students of all backgrounds to spread FIRST throughout their community. In addition to teams they have mentored, Team 341 has taken on several projects within their community such as:

  • Team in a Box - an instructional DVD to help guide teams through the different phases of FIRST.
  • Sparky's Robot World - a traveling robotics exhibit designed to bring the excitement of science and technology directly to children in their schools and communities, and
  • Ramp Riot -Team 341’s annual off-season event that was more than a competition hosting helpful seminars and information sessions for teams to share what they know and learn from each other.

2009 - Team 236, Techno Ticks - Old Lyme, Connecticut, USA

Techno Ticks 236 from Old Lyme, Connecticut won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2010 FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA.

 

2008 - Team 842, Falcon Robotics - Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Falcon Robotics, Team 842, from the heart of Phoenix, Arizona won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2008 FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA.

The team represents what can be done to improve student’s success in the area of STEM education in an inner-city school from a large metropolitan city. Since its inception, the team had been challenging the paradigms of the day by its surprising success. Alumni from the team have been extremely successful as well. The lessons learned in FIRST last well beyond the robot competition. The team had its break out moment in 2004 when in an underwater robotics competition they bested the likes of MIT to win the national title. Once students at Carl Hayden High school showed that they can overcome difficult obstacles to be successful despite the apparently insurmountable odds, the floodgate opened. The spirit of the team was captured in the Hollywood film, Spare Parts, that depicts the story of how they beat MIT. The critically acclaimed documentary Underwater DREAMS shows the real story behind the success of the team and the lasting legacy that victory over MIT has had. The team continues to be an inspiration to many all over the world.

video help from White Dwarf Productions

2007 - Team 365, Miracle Workerz- Wilmington, Deleware, USA

Miracle Workerz (MOE), Team 365, from Wilmington, Delaware won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2007 FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA.

This team created many initiatives such as MOE University - an opportunity for students to gain college credit, Duel on the Deleware  - an offseason event, and the MORE (Miracle of Reading Education) Program which helps generated excitement for STEM by focusing on literacy programs for reading-age youth. 

 

video help from White Dwarf Productions

2006 - Team 111, WildStang - Schaumburg, Illinois, USA

WildStang 111 from Arlington Heights, Illinois won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2006 FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA.

Through their innovative program of Mentor-led Fall Classes with differentiated instruction, coupled with the FIRST Robotics Competition, WildStang pushed students beyond what they thought was possible. While creating an environment that encouraged the sharing of ideas, creative problem solving and Student to Student mentorship, they developed a learning community for teammates of all types. 

video help from White Dwarf Productions

2005 - Team 67, The HOT Team - Highland, Michigan, USA

The Hot Team 67 from Highland, Michigan won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2005 FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA.

Their longtime sponsor General Motors allowed them to access engineers and tools that were not previously available. The team has a dynamic relationship with their community, and interacted with local business and participated in community service like road and river cleanups. They shared their knowledge with other teams and worked to improve the FIRST community. 

video help from White Dwarf Productions

2004 - Team 254, The Cheesy Poofs - San Jose, California, USA

Cheesy Poofs Team 254 from San Jose, California won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2004 FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA.

They worked hard to distinguish between an unhealthy and healthy competitive mindset, and incorporated aspects not typically attributed to FIRST robotics to attract students. This included website design, animation, and video editing. 

Since winning the award, Team 254 has continued to impact the FIRST community through various projects.

video help from White Dwarf Productions

2003 - Team 103, Cybersonics - Kintnersville, Pennsylvania, USA

Cybersonics Team 103 from Kintnersville, Pennsylvania won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2003 FIRST Championship in Houston, TX.

They were granted the award for their outreach efforts within their community, and their efforts in spreading the message of FIRST. The team created a website called Beyond FIRST, which was targeted at students and sponsors within the FIRST community.

Regarding their outreach efforts, Team 103 helped to connect rural teams to the FIRST community in several ways.

2002 - Team 175, Buzz Robotics - Enfield, Conneticut, USA

Buzz Team 175 from Enfield, Connecticut won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2002 FIRST Championship in Orlando, FL.

They were chosen for their efforts in mentoring students of all ages, from elementary school to high school. They worked to introduce young students to the foundation of FIRST by having them participate in various design projects. The team put safety first by sending 3×9 banners to FIRST that provided the guidelines for safety at FIRST Robotics Competitions. Team members also participated in various community service events, including the American Cancer Society’s 24-hour relay.

2001 - Team 22, Double Deuce - Chatsworth, California, USA

Double Deuce, Team 22, from Chatsworth, California won the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 2001 FIRST Championship in Orlando, FL.

2000 - Team 16, Baxter Bomb Squad, Mountain Home, Arkansas, USA

Bomb Squad 16 from Mountain Home, Arkansas won the FIRST Championship Chairman’s Award at the 2000 FIRST Championship in Orlando, FL.

1999 - Team 120, Cleveland's Team (formerly known as Scararbian Knights) - Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Cleveland’s Team, Team 120 from Cleveland, OH was honored to win the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 1999 FIRST Championship in Orlando, FL.

1998 - Team 23, Team PNTA - Plymouth, Massachussets, USA

Team PNTA, Team 23 from Plymouth, MA was honored to win the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 1998 FIRST Championship in Orlando, FL.

1997 - Team 47, Chief Delphi (now Team 51, The Wings of Fire) - Pontiac, Michigan, USA

Chief Delphi, Team 47 was honored to win the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 1997 FIRST Championship in Orlando, FL. The team received the award for their dedication to and pioneering of Youth STEM outreach programs, forming the CADET (Children Aspiring to Develop Engineering Talent) Program to involve middle and elementary school students in a FIRST like competition. Current FIRST students served as mentors for CADET members in a model that would eventually inspire the first iteration of the FIRST LEGO League competition years later. In addition, Chief Delphi would host the annual Chief Delphi Invitational; a FIRST like Competition program for other FIRST teams and community members. Later, in 2002, Chief Delphi launched ChiefDelphi.com, an online forum for FIRST members to communicate.

In 2010, as Pontiac Central and Pontiac Northern High Schools consolidated into a single school, Chief Delphi merged with Team 65, The Huskie Brigade, to form the new Team 51, The Wings of Fire. Team 51 continued its partnerships with community organizations and major sponsors from both teams. Today, The Wings of Fire continue to host and support STEM outreach programs in partnerships with local community organizations, the School District of the City of Pontiac, and team sponsors. Additionally, Team 51 supports all FIRST programs within the Pontiac School District and provides information, resources, and assistance to FIRST Teams across the globe. The legacy of Team 51 has entered into its “2nd generation” and is now mentored mainly by alumni of both Chief Delphi and the Huskie Brigade. The Wings of Fire continue to live by their longtime team motto: “You get out of this program what you put into it.”

1996 - Team 144, Operation Orange - Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Operation Orange, Team 144 from Cincinnati, OH was honored to win the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 1996 FIRST Championship in Orlando, FL.

1995 - Team 151, Purple Twister - Nashua, New Hampshire, USA

Purple Twister, Team 151, from Nashua, NH was honored to win the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 1995 FIRST Championship in Orlando, FL.

1994 - Team 191, The X-Cats - Rochester, New York, USA

X-Cats, Team 191 from Rochester, NY was honored to win the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 1994 FIRST Championship in Nashua, NH.

1993 - Team 7, The Labsters - Newark, New Jersey, USA

The Labsters, Team 7, was honored to win the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 1993 FIRST Championship in Nashua, NH.

1992 - Team 191, The X-Cats - Rochester, New York, USA

X-Cats, Team 191 from Rochester, NY was honored to win the FIRST Championship Chairman's Award at the 1992 FIRST Championship in Manchester, NH