And we have lift off! The 2019 FIRST ® Robotics Competition, DESTINATION: DEEP SPACE Presented By The Boeing Company has officially begun, kicking off today at 10:30 on the official FIRST Twitch channel.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor, entrepreneur, and tireless STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) advocate, as the “Ultimate Sport for the Mind.” High school aged teams around the world have six weeks to build a robot and vie for the chance to compete in the FIRST Championship in April. This intense period of team work, engineering, design, marketing, and more helps encourage young people to pursue futures in STEM, while they build their self-confidence, knowledge base, and life skills.

SOLIDWORKS is proud to sponsor over 1000 FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams and help develop the engineers and innovators of tomorrow. Teams who apply for a SOLIDWORKS sponsorship have access to a dozen SOLIDWORKS products, including individual licenses to SOLIDWORKS Premium, SOLIDWORKS CAM, SOLIDWORKS Visualize Professional, the MySolidWorks for Students community, hours of tutorials, and so much more.

2019 marks SOLIDWORKS’ fifth year as a Crown Supplier of FIRST. All FRC teams have access to the 2019 Kit of Parts (KOP) in SOLIDWORKS and STEP formats, which they can use to create quick assemblies and models of their robots.

FIRST Robotics Competition teams can apply for a SOLIDWORKS Sponsorship here: www.solidworks.com/FIRSTSponsorship

The SOLIDWORKS Kit of Parts for 2019 and previous years can be found here: www.solidworks.com/FIRSTKOP

This year, SOLIDWORKS created three experiences that allow FIRST teams to virtually explore the playing field.

SOLIDWORKS’ eDrawings Measurement 

Be the first to get a sneak peak of a new feature coming to eDrawings. Easily measure any aspect of the field virtually using any device. All you need is the link!