The team that receives the Motivate Award has 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.

 

Here is what the judges had to say:

The Design Award expands on this year's challenge, inspiring teams to incorporate industrial design into their robots. These elements are functional and aesthetic, and can be shown in the simplicity of the design as it applies to the tasks, the look and feel of the robot, and how the design allows us to think of robots in new ways. The robot should be durable, efficiently designed, and effectively address the game challenge.

 

Here is what the judges had to say:

This team impressed the judges with the quality of their robot's design. Their use of CAD and 3D printing LIGHTS THE BEACON of engineering. The judges believe this robot RISES to FLY over the competition.

Winner: Team 7423 Flaming Phoenix

2nd Place: Team 5356 Tardis        3rd Place: Team 9979 Cougars

 

Here is what the judges had to say:

The judges did a DOUBLE REVERSE when looking at this team's lift mechanism. It has the ability to rise like STALK OF WHEAT over the competition. The judges were definitely NOT ALLERGIC to this robot. 

Winner: Team 11115 Gluten Free

2nd Place: Team 5356 Tardis        3rd Place: Team 13474 MARS: Curiosity?

The Connect Award is presented to the team that the Judges' feel most connected with their local community, FIRST and the business world. The best team is more than the sum of its parts, and recognizes that their schools and communities play an essential part to 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, the team that wins this award is aggressively seeking engineers and other STEM professionals and exploring the opportunities available in the world of science and technology.

Here is what the judges had to say:This team is 'building' STEM connections in their community. Their desire to DISCOVER is out of this world. CURIOSITY has certainly taken them far. 

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

Here is what the judges had to say:

This team impressed the judges with a comprehensive documentation of their design process. The sequence of notes provided a detailed timeline of their season progress. Their notebook offered a PORTAL of TIME TRAVEL through their Skystone journey.

Winner: Team 5356 Tardis

2nd Place: Team 4347 NanoGurus       3rd Place: Team 9979 Cougars

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. The Judges used observations made during interviews and in the pit area, the team's engineering notebook, and performance on the playing field in determining the winner.

Here is what the judges had to say:

This team built a robot with a solid, robust design. Their impressive and broad-reaching outreach extended beyond borders. They may be MICROSCOPIC, but they are MASTERS on and off the field.

Winner: Team 4347 NanoGurus

2nd Place: Team 7423 Flaming Phoenix      3rd Place: Team 9979 Cougars