March 13, 2002
UW hosts Pacific Northwest Regionals of national robotics competition
Teams from across the western United States and Brazil will gather at the University of Washington March 29 and 30 to test their mechanical mettle in a regional robotics contest.
The Pacific Northwest Regional FIRST Robotics Competition will include 34 teams from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Colorado, California, Montana, Nevada and Brazil. The teams, composed of high school and college students and professional engineers as advisers, have each designed and built a robot to compete in navigating a course and performing specific tasks. More than 1,500 students will participate. The competition will be in the Bank of America Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the UW campus, near Husky Stadium, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
For more information, check http://swat.ee.washington.edu/our_competitions.htm. The event is free and open to the public. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in the early 1990s by inventor Dean Kamen as a way to involve students in hands-on engineering.
Parking is available in the E1 parking lot, located just north of the pavilion on Montlake Boulevard. The cost is $2.50, pay as you enter, quarters only. Disability parking is also available for $7 per day. Go to Gate 8, located in front of Husky stadium, for directions.
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