The FIRST^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge season – dubbed FIRST ROVER RUCKUS^SM (presented by Qualcomm) – will culminate with the SBPLI Long Island Championship tournament on March 9 at Syosset High School. Presented locally by School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI), FIRST Tech Challenge inspires students ages 12 to 18 to pursue an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Working alongside adult mentors, more than 69,000 students in approximately 27 countries have spent the last several months designing, building, programming and operating robots to play a floor game in an alliance format on a 12-foot-by-12-foot field. The participating teams in this championship tournament earned the opportunity to compete during one of five regional qualifying tournaments that took place at LuHi, Nassau Community College and Sewanhaka High Schools throughout January and February. This season, the object of the game is to obtain a higher score than the opposing alliance by having the team’s robot descend from the Lander, collect Minerals from the Crater, sort and score Minerals into the Cargo Hold of the Lander, perform autonomous tasks and navigate to specific parts of the Playing Field.

During the FIRST Tech Challenge events, students demonstrate their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship and sense of community. Three teams from the FIRST Long Island Championship will go on to the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship in Detroit, Michigan on April 24-27, 2019.

This will be the third year that FIRST Tech Challenge has enabled students on Long Island to explore STEM through building and problem-solving. In addition, 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the SBPLI Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST’s history and long-lasting impact on Long Island will be honored at all events this year.

“Students from across Long Island have been hard at work over the past few months building their robots and preparing for their qualifier event,” says Robert Stephenson, Program Co-Director and SBPLI/FIRST Long Island Representative. “FIRST Tech Challenge has grown into a powerful program for students across Long Island in such a short time, and we are excited to see these students show off their STEM talent at the upcoming Championship.”

The following 39 teams have advanced to the SBPLI Long Island FIRST LEGO League Championship, which will take place on Sunday, March 3 at Longwood High School: