FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. As the local Program Delivery Partner for FIRST LEGO League Junior, FIRST Tech Challenge, and FIRST Robotics Competition programs, FIRST Indiana Robotics shares a similar mission and vision as our parent organization.
Welcome to the FIRST Indiana Robotics community. As the President of FIRST Indiana Robotics, I have the great pleasure of re-introducing you to our organization, mission, and guiding principles. A series of introductory blog posts will breakdown the rebranding and re-introduction of FIRST Indiana Robotics into bite-sized pieces.
IndianaFIRST was created to provide mutual support to fellow Indiana FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams in 2001. As an association, they had their first meeting at Donatos Pizza in Kokomo. At the annual meeting in 2011, the association made an official vote to disband and created IndianaFIRST, Inc., a non-profit organization, with the specific goal of moving to the district model of competition. We will prepare a blog post that provides more in-depth details about the history of IndianaFIRST, how it started, became a nonprofit, and more.