This chapter contains descriptions of the FIRST^® Robotics Competition Awards as well as any required submission criteria.  Note an asterisk designates a new or “changed” award. Unless otherwise noted, all awards are given at Regional events, District events and the FIRST Championship. FIRST will hold an Awards Ceremony to present these awards at each appropriate event.

The Regional Chairman’s Award, the Woodie Flowers Award, and the Website Award must be submitted through the FIRST Student Team Members Information System (STIMS) https://my.usfirst.org/stims/site.lasso   The Main or Alternate contact for your team must assign up to four (4) student award summiteers in FRC TIMS.  Those students will be notified of their status via email and may then log into the Student Team Member system and be able to view the awards submission section on their main page.   The FIRST Dean’s List Award must be submitted by the team main or alternate contact through TIMS, https://my.usfirst.org/frc/tims/site.lasso. The Awards Submission section of STIMS and TIMS will open for submissions at NOON Eastern Time on November 10, 2011 and close for submissions on Thursday, February 16, 2012 at NOON Eastern Time.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is about much more than the mechanics of building a robot or winning a competitive event. It is about the partnership among people who are part of the FIRST community and the impact on those who participate in FIRST programs with a united goal of achieving FIRST’s mission. FIRST’s mission is to change the way young people regard science and technology and to inspiring an appreciation for the real-life rewards and career opportunities in these fields.

The concept of the Chairman’s Award includes Regional Chairman’s Awards, which enable FIRST to recognize more teams for their exemplary efforts in spreading the FIRST message, as well as their talents in organizing materials for their presentations. 

The teams who have earned the Regional Chairman’s Award will travel to the Championship for the continuing process of consideration for the most prestigious 2012 Chairman’s Award.

The Chairman’s Award was created to keep the central focus of the FIRST Robotics Competition as our ultimate goal for transforming the culture in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as encourage more of today’s youth to become scientists, engineers, and technologists
 

The Chairman’s Award represents the spirit of FIRST.  It honors the team that, in the judges’ estimation, best represents a model for other teams to emulate, and which embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST.  It remains FIRST’s most prestigious award.
 

Teams may submit for the Chairman’s Award at one regional or district event at which they are competing.  FIRST will present a Chairman’s Award at each regional and district event.  Chairman’s Award recipients from district events will go forward to be considered at the State or Region Championship.  The recipients from the Regional events and the State or Region Championships will go forward to the FIRST Championship. Only these recipients of the Regional Chairman’s Award will be eligible to be considered for the Chairman’s Award presented at the FIRST Championship.
 

Hall of Fame members; i.e., teams that have already earned the Chairman’s Award, are ineligible to resubmit for consideration for five (5) years.  Teams that earned the Chairman’s Award at the Championship prior to 2007 are eligible to participate in 2011. Teams that earned the Chairman’s Award in 2007-2011 are ineligible.

Because the Chairman’s Award recognizes sustained excellence and impact, not just a one (1) year team effort, it is not possible for a first year (rookie) team to receive this honor.  FIRST does, however, invite and encourage rookies to develop a Chairman’s Award submission which may be evaluated by the judges determining the winner of the Rookie All-Star Award.  This submission will document where the team started its FIRST journey and will also provide background for documenting the results of the team’s efforts – it will be a great way to start the team’s efforts to earn the Chairman’s Award in the future. 
 

Rookie Teams:  If you prepare a Regional Chairman’s Award submission, you must print a copy to give the Judges when they visit you at your Pit Station.  Judges will not be viewing them online.
 

Teams receiving NASA Grants must provide a copy of this submission as part of the grant.
 

All teams are encouraged to print a copy of their final submission for their records and to confirm for themselves that the submission was accepted.

The criteria for the 2012 Chairman's Award are essentially identical to those in the past, with special emphasis on recent accomplishments in both the 2011/2012 year and the preceding two (2) years. The judges focus on teams’ activities over a sustained period, as distinguished from just the six (6) week design and build time frame. 
 

As in the past, teams may only submit at one (1) Regional competition for judging.  Teams submitting for both the Regional Chairman’s Award and the Woodie Flowers award no longer have to submit both at the same event. 
 

More information on this award can be found on the FIRST Website under http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/awards.
 

Submission Deadline for Chairman’s Awards are no later than Thursday, February 16, 2012 @ NOON Eastern Time.

Teams submitting for the Regional Chairman’s Award must provide a DVD to the judges at the event.  The content of the video should explain what the team has done to earn a Regional Chairman’s Award.  The video may be shown to the judges during the team’s 5 minute presentation time at the discretion of the teams; however the team must provide the equipment for viewing (i.e., laptop).  Although it is a requirement of submission, it is not a requirement for the judging process for 2012. Specifications for the DVD will be found on the FIRST website under http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/awards.
 

Teams who do not submit a video to the judges will not be considered eligible for the Chairman’s Award and will not be interviewed by the judges.

Teams who are selected to receive the Regional or a District Event Chairman’s Award will have their submission posted on the FIRST website within two weeks of the event.  Submissions will be linked off the FRC Awards page http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/awards   Teams who are awarded the Regional or District Event Chairman’s Award are also encouraged to post their Chairman’s Award video on the FRC You Tube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/FRCTeamsGlobal   Please label your video 2012 Team XXXX RCA Video.

At The Championship, a panel of judges will review the all the submissions from all the selected Regional Chairman’s Award recipients and will select one ultimate Chairman’s Award recipient. This team has the additional honor of choosing one of its junior or senior student members to receive the Allaire Medal.

The Chairman’s Award is presented at the Championship to the FIRST team judged to have the best partnership effort.  The Allaire Medal recognizes leadership exemplified and is awarded to an individual student on the winning Chairman’s Award team.
 

Named in honor of Paul A. Allaire, a long-serving FIRST Chairman of the Board, the Allaire Medal is given to the student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership on his/her FIRST team, within his/her school and community and whose personal character best embodies the spirit of FIRST. 
 

The team receiving The Chairman’s Award at the Championship will select the Allaire Medal recipient.  The adult and student team members determine the winner.  The recipient must be a high school junior or senior who has been accepted into a four (4) year degree program at a college or university.  The Allaire Medalist receives the Allaire medallion and up to $10,000 in total scholarship support for undergraduate tuition, room/board and fees/books at his or her intended university or college.

To determine the winner of the Cooperition Award, the FMS will rank all teams in decreasing order, using the following sorting criteria:

The team or teams receiving the top ranking after both sorts will receive the Coopertition Award.

This award honors clear and compelling evidence of excellence in design development, documentation, communication, animation, and presentation.   The intention of the Award is to inspire, recognize and celebrate design as one way in which you can change your world.

With a distinctive history of 20+ years of sponsorship of FIRST, Autodesk continues to honor the inventors, engineers and design professionals of the future who are at the center of the FIRST Robotics Competition. They want to help teams develop an awareness of the power of design; learn the processes and tools for great design; and award achievement in design excellence.  Autodesk understands that you want to have a positive impact on the world and now more than ever, design technology is helping to improve the way we live and shape the world in which we live.

Again this year, Autodesk is proud to sponsor the Award for Excellence in Design – with two separate categories in this single Award. Category One will involve 3D Design; and Category Two will involve Animation. Videos entered in Category One: 3D Design Award must be created using Autodesk Inventor Publisher 2012. Videos entered in Category Two: 3D Animation must be created using Autodesk 3ds Max software, Autodesk Maya software or Autodesk Softimage software. Student versions of this software may be downloaded from the Sponsor Site at http://www.autodesk.com/first. You may be required to register as a member of Autodesk’s Education Community prior to download.

This award will be presented at Championship. At the 2012 Championship, the winner of the Autodesk Award for Design Excellence (in both of the two Categories) will be announced and the winning entry will be shown at the awards ceremony.

Complete information about the Award is available at: www.autodesk.com/first

In an effort to recognize the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding FRC students, the Kamen family sponsors an award for selected top students, aka FIRST superstars, known as the FIRST Dean’s List.

Similar to the very prestigious National Merit Scholarship Award winners, there are three (3) “categories” of FIRST Dean’s List Award students: 

1. FIRST Dean’s List Semi-Finalists (the group of two (2) students nominated by each FRC team);
    
2. FIRST Dean List’s Finalists comprised of the two (2) students selected at each regional; six (6) selected at the Michigan District State Championship; and four (4) selected at the Mid-Atlantic Regional (MAR) Championship;
    
3. FIRST Dean List Winners (10 students selected from the FIRST Dean’s List Finalists at the FRC Championship).
    

Teams nominating students as FIRST Dean’s List Semi-Finalists should note that colleges and universities are extremely interested in recruiting FIRST Dean’s List Award students and accordingly, FIRST strongly urges teams to nominate a student in his or her junior year as a FIRST Dean’s List Semi-Finalist.  While FIRST judges will consider any student nominated by their team as a FIRST Dean’s List Semi-Finalist, this year judges will give preference to students in their junior year when they make their selections to maximize the impact of the FIRST Dean’s List Award for students and colleges/universities supporting FIRST.

The students who earn FIRST Dean’s List Award status as either a Semi-Finalist, Finalist or Winner, will not only be great examples of student leaders who have led their teams and communities to increased awareness for FIRST and its mission all the while achieving personal technical expertise and accomplishment, but it is FIRST’s intention that they will continue on, post-award, as great leaders of FIRST’s ever growing student alumni and as advocates of FIRST.  The FIRST Dean’s List Award, introduced in 2010, joined the ranks of other prestigious FIRST awards like the FIRST Founder’s Award which honors sponsors or other supporters who help to grow FIRST; the Woodie Flowers Award, which honors outstanding mentors at FIRST; and the Chairman’s Award, which honors the teams believed to have best achieved the mission of FIRST.

Since its introduction in 2010, the FIRST Dean’s List Award has attracted the attention of prestigious colleges and universities who desire to recruit FIRST Dean’s List students.  As FIRST believes such interest is beneficial to our students, those selected will be asked to provide written consent for the release and use of certain personal information, including image, to interested colleges/universities for the sole purpose of their recruitment to the institution.  Prestigious colleges have expressed great interest in meeting FIRST Dean’s List’s Award winners and so FIRST hopes that each team will take advantage of the opportunity to nominate their best students as FIRST Dean’s List Semi-Finalists!

The award was created during the 2010 FRC season by the Kamen family in recognition of Jack and Evelyn Kamen; parents of FIRST founder Dean Kamen.  Jack, who passed away in August of 2008 at the age of 88, and his wife Evelyn have been fixtures at many FIRST events.  Their humor, along with a positive and supportive attitude, truly symbolizes the FIRST culture.  In fact, Jack is the designer of the playful red, white and blue geometric shapes that create the FIRST logo which wonderfully balances the technical and emotional sides of what FIRST is all about.  Dean’s mother, Evelyn, is a tireless caretaker for her family and is an exceptional teacher, principal and tremendous FIRST supporter.  She lends her experience as a leader of schools to chair the judge panel that selects the FIRST Dean’s List Award winners.

Dean’s parents always encouraged his passion for innovation and his gift for motivating leaders throughout the world to support the FIRST mission.  It is the family’s hope that this award will encourage the passion in all FIRST students to promote the FIRST mission both as a student on an FRC team and for years to come as members of the FIRST student alumni.

The process for competing for the FIRST Dean’s List is similar to the process for the Woodie Flowers Award and the Chairman’s Award in that applicants must first compete at the Regional level to be considered at the Championship level.  Applicants for the FIRST Dean’s List are nominated by their mentor as FIRST Dean's List Semi-Finalists.  These students will be reviewed at one (1) Regional where their team is competing with two (2) FIRST Dean's List Finalists chosen at each Regional.

All Dean’s List Finalists will be considered for the final selection of ten (10) FIRST Dean’s List Award winners at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis.

Each FRC mentor is invited to select up to two (2) students (may select only one but not more than two) as FIRST Dean's List Semi-Finalists.  In deciding which students to nominate, mentors should consider the impact the award will have on the nominated student. For example, mentors may choose to nominate a junior whose college acceptance prospects would be enhanced by both the nomination and any subsequent advancement in the competition.  Each mentor may only submit their two (2) FIRST Dean's List Semi-Finalists to compete for the FIRST Dean's List Finalist designation at one (1) regional.  Students previously selected as FIRST Dean’s List Semifinalists or Finalists ARE eligible for nomination again this year.

Criteria for selection of the FIRST Dean's List shall include, but not be limited to a student's:

• demonstrated leadership and commitment to the ideals of FIRST;
   
• interest in and passion for a long term commitment to FIRST and its ideals;
   
• overall individual contribution to their team;
   
• technical expertise and passion;
   
• entrepreneurship and creativity;
   
• ability to motivate and lead fellow team members; and
   
• effectiveness at increasing awareness of FIRST in their school and community.
   

Evaluation of Semi-Finalists and Finalists will be based on a one page essay, submitted by the mentor, which best describes each student's fulfillment of the criteria. (As previously noted, Mentors can submit up to two nominations/essays per team).   Although a single mentor must submit the nomination, the team as a whole must verify the accuracy of the submission.   FIRST is relying upon the team for veracity and accuracy of the submission data.

Each entry shall be in the form attached which includes identifying information; i.e., the student’s cumulative GPA; and an essay of not more than 4,000 characters attesting to why the student has been nominated.  Essays must be submitted no later than Noon Eastern time on Thursday, February 16, 2012 to https://my.usfirst.org/tims/site.lasso. A photograph of the FIRST Dean’s List Semi-Finalist is encouraged, but optional, and the essay submission and such photos may be used, in promotion of the recipient and/or the award, at the discretion of FIRST.  Winners will be required to sign a FIRST media release to allow use of their likeness to sponsors contributing to the FIRST Dean’s List recognition program and will be responsible for any taxes associated with federal/state prize requirements.

If a team is attending more than one regional event, the mentor must select one event at which their nominations are to be considered. Each essay must clearly state the team name, the names and grade levels of the student(s) nominated, an explanation of why the students were nominated as well as the regional event at which the nomination is to be considered. Teams participating in Michigan and Mid-Atlantic Robotics Region District events must submit their nominees at the local Championship.

At each FRC regional event, judges will select two (2) students from the FIRST Dean’s List Semi-Finalists as FIRST Dean's List Finalists.  The two (2) Regional FIRST Dean’s List Finalists will be honored at the award ceremonies at that regional event.  Six (6) FIRST Dean’s List Finalists will be selected/honored at the Michigan FRC State Championship and four (4) selected/honored at the Mid-Atlantic Robotic FRC Region Championship.

All FIRST Dean's List Finalists will be considered for the FIRST Dean’s List at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis using the essays provided. Finalist candidates need not be present at the FIRST Championship in order to be considered.  Ten (10) Students will be selected as the FIRST Dean’s List Award Winners for the 2012 FRC season.

The ten (10) 2012 FIRST Dean’s List Award winners will receive the following:

• A unique trophy and public recognition at the 2012 FIRST Championship;
   
• a written recommendation from FIRST leadership to the college(s) or employer(s) of their choice;
   
• a credit towards the winning student’s team 2013 registration fee;
   
• a commemorative plaque for the student’s school Hall of Fame;
   
• an invitation for them, and a chaperone, to attend an expenses paid FIRST Dean’s List Award Summit,  at FIRST Headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire; and
   
• the opportunity to work with all members of the FIRST Dean's List and FIRST leaders to advance the mission of FIRST.

Each year FIRST presents this award to honor an organization or individual that has contributed significantly to the growth of FIRST.

The Website Award recognizes excellence in student designed, built and managed FIRST team websites. 

Three (3) subcategories are awarded:

• “Website Excellence” - Every submission that meets the first website design standards of excellence (80% or better of total possible score) will receive the website excellence award.
   

• Regional, District and State/Regional Championship Best Website – One Best Website Award will be given at each Regional and District Competition.  The Best Website from each District Competition will go on to compete at the corresponding State/Region Championship.  A team that wins a District Best Website Award does not have to attend the State or Region Championship to be considered for the State/Region Championship Best Website Award.
   

• Championship Best Website – One winner will be chosen from the Regional and State/Region Championship Best Website Award winners. A team that wins a Regional or State/Region Championship Best Website Award does not have to attend the Championship in order to be considered for this award.

Teams must enter their website into the FIRST awards submission site by Noon Eastern time on February 16, 2012 to be evaluated.  Each team’s website will be evaluated for the website award at every regional and District event at which the team is competing.  The website must be complete and functional by the date of submission.  Any website found to be “down,” and not viewable by the evaluators, will be disqualified.

Additional information can be found on the FIRST website under: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/awards.

The Woodie Flowers Award celebrates effective communication in the art and science of engineering and design.  Dr. William Murphy founded this prestigious award in 1996 to recognize mentors who lead, inspire and empower using excellent communication skills. 

Two subcategories are awarded:

• The Woodie Flowers Finalist Award (WFFA) is presented to one adult mentor at each Regional Competition or Region/State Championship.
   
• The Woodie Flowers Award (WFA) is presented to one WFFA winner at the FIRST Championship 

Each year, students may submit an essay nominating one mentor from their team to be considered for this award. FIRST will recognize one adult mentor at each regional to receive the WFFA.  If a team already has a mentor who has received the WFFA in a prior year, then that team may re-submit that mentor in the current year in addition to nominating a mentor for the WFFA if they wish.  The current year WFFA recipients, along with those mentors who received a WFFA in a prior year, and have been re-nominated, will be judged to receive the WFA at the FRC Championship.

High school students on a FIRST Robotics Competition team may nominate one (1) adult team member as their Woodie Flowers Finalist Award (WFFA) candidate (eligibility information on FIRST website under http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/awards.) The students will describe how this mentor has given them the best understanding of the challenges, opportunities and satisfaction involved in the discipline of engineering and design. Professor Flowers will lead the past Championship Woodie Flowers Award (WFA) recipients as they judge and select the Finalists and ultimate Championship recipient based on student essays.

This award recognizes an individual who has done an outstanding job of motivation through communication while also challenging the students to be clear and succinct in recognizing the value of communication. As such, it is very important that this be a student-led effort and a student decision. Team mentors should direct their students to the online entry site and let the high school student nominators decide whom to nominate. Adults can help edit, but this must be a student-led effort, since any team mentor is eligible. Authors must be clearly identified as high school students in the online submission.

Regional WFFA (except District Event Teams) – Each team may nominate one adult member from their team for the WFFA.  The adult mentor must be on the same team as the student nominators and only one adult member may be nominated per team.  Previous year WFFA recipients are not eligible to receive the current year WFFA.

Michigan State Championship WFFA (applies only to teams participating in Michigan district events) - Each Michigan District team may nominate one adult member from their team at the Region or State Championship.  Each District team many only nominate their candidate at one of the local District events.  The adult mentor must be on the same team as the student nominators and only one adult member may be nominated per team.  Previous WFFA recipients are not eligible to receive the current year WFFA. One Regional WFFA recipient will be selected at the Michigan State Championship.

MAR Region Championship WFFA (applies only to teams participating in MAR district events) - Each MAR District team may nominate one adult member for their team at either the Region Championship or a Regional Event they are attending.  District teams that nominate their candidate for the Region Championship many only nominate their candidate at one of the local District events.  The adult mentor must be on the same team as the student nominators and only one adult member may be nominated per team.  Previous WFFA recipients are not eligible to receive the current year WFFA. One Regional WFFA recipient will be selected at the Region Championship.

Please note that at each District event, the Region/State Championship WFFA nominees nominated at that District event, will be called to the playing field to be recognized.

FIRST Championship WFA – All prior Regional WFFA recipients are eligible to be re-nominated for the current FIRST Championship Woodie Flowers Award.  However, if a team has multiple prior Regional WFFA recipients, then the team may only re-nominate one of those previous recipients. The re-nomination can be made as soon as the online submission process begins.  All of the Regional WFFA recipients from the current year are automatically eligible to receive the current FIRST Championship Woodie Flowers Award, with one exception. Teams that have submitted a previous year WFFA recipient for the current FIRST Championship WFA and have a current Regional WFFA recipient must select only one of those mentors to be submitted for the FIRST Championship WFA. In this case, student nominators will be asked by the WFA committee which Regional WFFA recipient from their team will be their FIRST Championship WFA candidate. A person may not receive the WFA more than one time.

Two aspects of this award are important: (1) the accomplishments in communication by the mentor and (2) the student’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely through their written nomination.

Specific judging criteria are based on the team’s description of how the mentor inspired each member of the team in some or all of the following ways:

• Level of student participation
   
• Creativity of effort
   
• Clear explanation of mathematical, scientific, and engineering concepts
   
• Demonstration of enthusiasm for science and engineering
   
• Encouragement to work on projects as a team effort
   
• Inspiration to use problem-solving skills
   
• Inspiration to become an effective communicator
   
• Motivation through communication
   

Each FIRST team completes a product development cycle as it designs a concept, develops a prototype, and builds and debugs a unique machine. This requires teamwork, attention to detail, scheduling, and hard work. The award-winning essay should answer this question; “How did the candidate inspire your team throughout this process?” If the essay best describes how this individual excels above all others as he or she inspires the team, then that mentor truly deserves to be recognized with the award that honors Professor Woodie Flowers and his contribution to engineering, education, and communication.

The students enter team and candidate information, reference information, and a maximum three thousand (3,000) character essay written in English. Teams may also add up to six (6) pictures, totaling no more than 1.0 Mb. of memory. This essay should be a team effort and will stand alone as the team’s entry to award their candidate the deserved recognition.

For students to re-nominate a past WFFA winner for the Championship WFA, they must write and submit a new three thousand (3,000) character essay.  

Teams may only submit their WFFA candidate at one Regional competition for judging.

The Woodie Flowers Award entries are due Thursday, February 16, 2012 NOON Eastern time.

Students enter their candidate through the FIRST Student Team Members Information System (STIMS) https://my.usfirst.org/stims/site.lasso.

Student nominators must follow the directions listed on the screen. As the student nominator fills out the required information, he/she will also choose their selected regional.

Student nominators can easily enter information, save it, and return to the site to edit their entry information until they are ready to submit it for judging. All entries will be final on Thursday, February 16, 2012 at NOON Eastern.  No entries will be accepted or altered after this date.

Students will go to the website to enter information in the following fields:

Team Number

Candidate Information:

First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name

Address, City, State, zip code

Employer

Occupation

Position on team

High School Student Nominator’s information: (Student recommending candidate)

First Name, Last Name

Phone Number

High School

E-mail Address

Position on Team

Year in school (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th)

Adult Reference (On the same team)

First Name, Last Name

Phone Number

E-mail Address

Position on Team

Adult Reference (Any FIRST affiliation)

First Name, Last Name

Phone Number

E-mail Address

Regional / Michigan District Selection         (Team must attend this Regional / District)

Upload Pictures       (Up to 6, no more than 1.0 Mb total)

Essay (3,000 character max) - The students will see a quote from Dr. Murphy and/or Woodie about the value of concise and clear writing. Once candidates’ information and essays are submitted, they are sorted and posted on a private, password-protected site where only the Judges can read the entries.

Please refer to the current FIRST Championship WFA eligibility requirements on the FIRST website. Student nominators must submit a new 3000 character (maximum) essay in order to re-nominate their previous year Regional WFFA recipient to be eligible for the current Championship WFA. Student nominators will not be able to edit the original submission. Past recipients without a new essay will not be eligible for the WFA. While the judges can review past essays, the new essay must be able to stand alone as a complete submission.

Each FIRST team can nominate/re-nominate a maximum of one (1) candidate for the 2012 FIRST Championship WFA.

This award celebrates innovation and intellectual property creation inspired by the FIRST season experience.  This award recognizes creativity in effectively solving a real-world, complex problem through the invention of a unique solution beyond the requirements of the FIRST competition season and events. This award directly links to the FIRST mission to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders that inspire innovation and to the FIRST vision to transform the culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated.

The FIRST Future Innovator Award will be judged by a panel of leading experts in the fields of engineering and patent law, including Dean Kamen, and representatives from Abbott and others, to determine the winning idea.

The winner will be announced at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis. The winning students will be granted an award presented by the Abbott Fund and also will have the opportunity to meet with a venture capitalist firm for a real-world experience to discuss their invention and possible business application.

The FIRST Future Innovator Award competition is open to all North American FRC and FTC teams officially registered for the current 2011/2012 FIRST competition season. The portal for student submissions will open in February and the deadline for submissions will be Noon, March 30, 2012, Eastern Standard Time.

• Applicants make a formal submission electronically; to be reviewed and evaluated by a designated judge panel independent of current FIRST Program competition season judged awards.
• Submission consists of properly filled out Future Innovator Award Disclosure Form (DF), along with supporting documentation.
• FIRST strongly encourages all teams to file for patent protection by filing a provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), before submitting for the Future Innovator Award.
  • Additional information regarding provisional patent applications can be found at www.uspto.gov as well as in the guidelines available through the website: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/frc/future-innovator-award
  • Once an idea is shared through submission for this award, patent protection can only be sought in the United States and cannot be sought in any other jurisdiction, unless a provisional patent has been filed before submission.

This award will be presented at Championship. At the 2012 Championship, the winner of the FIRST Future Innovator Award presented by the Abbott Fund will be announced and shown at the awards ceremony.

Submission will be judged on the following criteria:

• Practicality of developing and implementing the invention
• Whether the invention has the potential to better society through a unique and innovative technological application
• Whether the invention was utilized for a FIRST -related activity
• Complexity of the problem to be solved by the invention
• Effectiveness of the invention in solving the problem
• Uniqueness of the invention
• Simplicity of the invention
• Whether the invention has applicability outside of FIRST in solving problem(s) in the following categories:
  • National Academy of Engineering 14 Grand Challenges
  • Autonomy, navigation, and mobility solutions for emergency, rescue, and security responses
  • Revolutionizes robotics for the mass market
  • Solutions for home, hospital, and public environments
  • Space solutions – lunar robots, mars robots, satellite autonomous programming