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 was laser-focused on the design and development of their robot. They grabbed success and pulled in multiple victories. With its robust and sturdy design, this robot is hard to measure up against.

Winner: Team 14427 WonderBots

2nd Place: Team 13474 MARS: Curiosity?        3rd Place: Team 13336 Martians

 

Here is what the judges had to say:

This team raised the bar with their innovative design. They landed points with the judges by reusing last year's game parts. Their use of a scissor lift could take them back to their home planet.

Winner: Team 13336 Martians

2nd Place: Team 13474 MARS: Curiosity?        3rd Place: Team 14427 WonderBots

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 impressed the judges with how well they connected with their professional community. Every corner of their habitat felt the power of their roar. Their mentors gave them lion-hearted determination to persevere.

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's engineering notebook had well-documented design progression. Their notebook also documented their extensive outreach efforts with other teams. They showed determination in continually improving their design, but with a STEELY GRACE.

Winner: Team 9821 Girls of Steel Hopper

2nd Place: Team 13474 MARS: Curiosity?       3rd Place: Team 6549 Whoa!Bots

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 impressed the judges with their colorfully organized engineering notebook and their extensive community outreach. There was little to question on their robot design progression. The judges are CURIOUS to see where this team will go in the future.

Winner: Team 13474 MARS: Curiosity?

2nd Place: Team 14427 WonderBots