Contact: Virginia  Tseperis
Manager, Community Relations
(201) 847-5364

Franklin Lakes, NJ Students from Henry P. Becton Regional High School, East Rutherford, NJ, and engineers from Becton Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, NJ, have teamed up to compete in the 1998 FIRST Robotics Competition.

With only six weeks to design and build a radio-controlled robot, the Becton team met 49 competitors last weekend at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Tournament held at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. The team and their robot, "Johnny 5," were cheered on by the Becton Regional band and cheerleaders, as well as compatriots from both the company and the school. The team was very competitive and is looking forward to the National Tournament to be held at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Becton Dickinson Engineer Rich Evans is very positive about the outcome. "Going into the competition, we were satisfied that we had already met our goal, which is to get students involved in learning about science, technology and engineering. It has been a great experience and the level of enthusiasm and commitment has been very high. With the Regional competition behind us, we plan to make a few modifications to Johnny 5 before competing at Nationals next week."

Fast becoming the ultimate "mind sport" of students in middle and high school, the FIRST competition provides a hands-on, inside look at the world of engineering. Each team is given a standard kit of parts and six weeks to conceptualize, build and test a radio-controlled gladiator robot according to defined specifications. The project is handled like a real life engineering project, from concept to prototype to validation to fabrication and deployment, giving students valuable insight into the realities of engineering and business.

This year, the Becton/Becton team is one of 200 competing across the nation. According to team member and Becton Dickinson engineer Stephen Depoe, "This is about teaching kids that there is more to science than textbooks. Although the thrill of the competition is important for students, the team's final placement should not be over-emphasized. What is critical is the relationships that are developed and the mentoring that takes place."

The company's Chief Technology Officer Vince De Caprio, concurs. "At the heart of its purpose, FIRST creates heroes and role models for our kids, to show them that innovation, science, technology and math, coupled with a dose of creativity and hard work, create highly successful competitive heroes. People like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are far more socially important and financially successful than the prevalent heroes of sports or entertainment. It shows kids that science is great fun, hard work and highly competitive. Becton Dickinson is proud to be part of this exceptional opportunity to help kids apply science and technology one-on-one."

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a national non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring interest in science and technology, by teaming students with engineers from leading corporations and universities.