The Judges’ Choice Award is given at the discretion of the Judges to a team they have encountered whose unique efforts, performance or dynamics merit recognition, yet the team does not fit into any of the existing award categories.

The Compass Award recognizes an adult coach or mentor who has given outstanding guidance and support for a FIRST Tech Challenge team throughout the year. The winner of the Compass Award is determined from candidates nominated by student team members, via a 40-60 second video, highlighting how their mentor has helped them become an outstanding team and has truly demonstrated what it means to be a Gracious Professional.

The Promote Award is given to the team that is most successful in creating a compelling message for the public and working to change our culture and celebrate science, technology, engineering and math. The video submission was evaluated by the Judges to determine the winner of this award. Teams must present a thoughtful and high-quality video which best exhibits this year’s topic of: “The best thing about FIRST Tech Challenge is…”

The Design Award expands on this year’s challenge, inspiring teams to incorporate industrial design into their robots. These elements can be shown in the simplicity of the design as it applies to the tasks, the look and feel of the robot in how the design allows us to think of robots in new ways. The design aspect must serve a function – but should also differentiate the robot in a unique fashion.

The team that receives the Motivate Award celebrates the culture of FIRST and clearly shows what it means to be a team. This award celebrates the team that represents the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through team building, team spirit, and displayed enthusiasm. This is a team who makes a collective effort to make FIRST known throughout their school and community and sparks others to embrace the culture of FIRST.

The Control Award celebrates the team that demonstrates innovative thinking in the control system to solve game challenges such as autonomous operation, enhancing mechanical systems with intelligent control, or using sensors to achieve better results on the field.

The Innovate Award sponsored by RTX celebrates a team that has the ingenuity and inventiveness to make their designs come to life. This award is given to the team that the Judges feel has the most innovative and creative robot design solution to the FIRST Tech Challenge game. Elements of this award include elegant design, robustness and ‘out of the box’ thinking.

This award may address the design of the whole robot or some sub-assembly component of the robot. The creative component needs to work consistently, but a robot does not have to work all of the time during matches to be considered for this award. The team’s engineering portfolio showed the design of the component(s) and the team’s robot, and clearly explains how the team arrived at their solution.

The Connect Award is presented to the team that the Judges feel most connected with their local Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) community. A true FIRST team is more than the sum of its parts and recognizes that engaging their local STEM community plays an essential part in their success. The recipient of this award is recognized for helping the community understand FIRST, the FIRST Tech Challenge, and the team itself. In addition, this team aggressively seeks and recruits engineers and explores the opportunities available in the world of engineering, science, and technology.

The Think Award is given to the team that the Judges feel best reflects the journey of the engineering design process. The engineering portfolio is the key reference for Judges to help them identify the most deserving team. This team’s engineering portfolio focused on the design and build stage of the team’s Robot and exemplified their journey as a team and engineers.

Captain – 9864 Jug Rox Robotix – from Shoals, IN, USA

1^st Pick – 18505 Something to do with Waffles – from Bloomington, IN, USA

FIRST Dean’s List Finalists are outstanding student leaders whose passion for and effectiveness at embodying FIRST ideals is exemplary. These students were nominated by their teams for their direct contributions and impact on others – exemplifying leadership and commitment, on their FIRST Tech Challenge team, in their school, and in their community. FIRST Dean’s List Finalists, recognized here today, will represent (insert region) in the running for the ten Dean’s List Winner spots.

The Inspire Award is presented to the team that the Judges felt truly embodied the ‘challenge’ of the FIRST Tech Challenge program. The team that receives this award is a strong ambassador for FIRST programs and works to promote FIRST and make it loud in their community. The team that receives this award has performed well in all Judging categories and was chosen by the Judges as a model FIRST Tech Challenge team both on and off the playing field. This team shares their experiences, enthusiasm and knowledge with other teams, sponsors, their community, and the Judges. Working as a unit, this team will have shown success in performing the task of designing and building a robot.