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 clawed their way up with an aluminum gripper. Their FLL experience paid off with an impressive autonomous performance. It's no wonder they did so well.

Winner: Team 14427 WonderBots

2nd Place: Team 16354 Phobos Ares         3rd Place: Team 16762 Raider Robotics

 

Here is what the judges had to say:

This team's unique design definitely had a look of its own. This team's robot has the ability to SHOOT the Skystones to the MOON. Their 6 green wheels must have really been turning to come up with the creative design.

Winner: Team 16354 Phobos Ares

2nd Place: Team 12593 Yantrik         3rd Place: Team 2818 G-FORCE

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's engineering notebook highlighted numerous outreach events within its universe. Their connection with the STEM community was stellar. This team had a special New Year's celebration where they took the opportunity to connect with a chief scientist from NASA.

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 documented step by step the design of their customized robot. They like to share their engineering skills and open the door to all! The lime green team proudly wears their vests, bow ties, and suspenders!

Winner: Team 13474 MARS: Curiosity?

2nd Place: Team 2818 G-FORCE        3rd Place: Team 11792 Botsburgh

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's impressive Engineering Notebook was bursting with information that clearly outlined their team's journey. This team's scissor lift design helped them make the cut. The force was definitely with this team this afternoon!

Winner: Team 2818 G-FORCE

2nd Place: Team 13474 MARS: Curiosity?      3rd Place: Team 11792 Botsburgh