{"id":2289,"date":"2017-05-16T11:00:52","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T16:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.misumiusa.com\/?p=2289"},"modified":"2021-10-29T15:59:39","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T20:59:39","slug":"all-things-first-worlds-st-louis-mo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/all-things-first-worlds-st-louis-mo\/","title":{"rendered":"All Things FIRST\u00ae: WORLDS, St. Louis, MO"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following week Worlds took place in St. Louis, MO.\u00a0 This will be the final year at the America\u2019s Center as next year it will be held in Detroit, MI.\u00a0 The FIRST\u00aeLego\u00ae League and FIRST\u00ae Robotics competition were held at the Dome while FIRST\u00ae Lego\u00ae Junior and FIRST\u00ae Tech Challenge were held at the St. Louis Union Station.<\/p>\n

The Robot Service Center was set up very similarly to Houston but at this location, we were very close to the Machine Shop.\u00a0 The teams were very busy getting their robots and pits set up for the St. Louis Championships.\u00a0 We were surrounded by many other suppliers.\u00a0 Many engineers and employees of our customers were mentors and volunteers for the teams and were happy to see us there. \u00a0At our booth, we showed off a variety of product<\/a> from rotary motion products<\/a> to aluminum extrusion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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We were able to take some time and hop on the shuttle to visit Union Station.\u00a0 We sponsor a Tech Challenge team, Mechanical Paradox, and decided to pay them a visit.\u00a0 It was my first time meeting the team and I was eager to see their progress.\u00a0 Walking into Union Station reminded me of King\u2019s Cross Station in the Harry Potter Movies, the black iron accents, arched hallways, and cream colored brick made me feel like I was about to board the Hogwarts Express.\u00a0 We approached the team\u2019s booth and immediately spotted our banner to the left of their booth!\u00a0 They were very excited to see us, such a great group of students, both intelligent and humble.\u00a0 We arrived just in time to catch their first match.\u00a0 Walking through the Tech Challenge pits was very similar to the Robotics pits except on a smaller scale.\u00a0 The age range was broader as well, reaching grade school through high school.<\/p>\n

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Union Station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As we were walking around, one mentor\/volunteer stopped us and suggested that we visit another team that used our Aluminum Extrusion on their robot.\u00a0 I guess our MISUMI<\/a> gear gave us away that we worked for MISUMI<\/a>. \ud83d\ude09\u00a0 Their team name was the Iron Maidens.\u00a0 It was a pure treat to meet them as their reaction to meet us was both awe and gratitude.\u00a0 They praised MISUMI for how easy it was to use the product and the availability of different size ranges which is something they have been looking for.\u00a0\u00a0 We were also just in time to catch one of their matches.<\/p>\n

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Mechanical Paradox proudly showing MISUMI<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Iron Maidens and their robot<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Watching the Tech Challenge matches were just as exciting as the Robotics matches.\u00a0 The playing fields were much smaller and the tasks very challenging.\u00a0 Time is limited as teams must light beacons, shoot balls, and lift an exercise ball.\u00a0 Mechanical Paradox won their first match!\u00a0 More details on the performance of Mechanical Paradox in the next post!<\/p>\n

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Our booth was as busy as ever meeting teams, mentors, coaches, and even mascots!\u00a0 We had many teams familiar with us and equally fascinated with our configurability model<\/a>.\u00a0 We were able to witness firsthand the positive influence that this program has on these students.\u00a0 One particular student shared with us his life-changing experience with FIRST\u00ae. He always had an interest in engineering and shared with us that he did not grow up in a stable home and had abusive parents.\u00a0 When he found out his school had FIRST\u00ae Robotics, he immediately joined because he always loved working with his hands and engineering.\u00a0 Not only did he learn new skills, he told us he learned to control his temper and create new friendships.\u00a0 He credits all the good things that have changed him to FIRST\u00ae and his mentor.\u00a0 Thank you for sharing your story with us! \u00a0You are an inspiration.<\/p>\n

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The competition fields were held in the Dome.\u00a0 It was truly a sporting event with big screens, lights, announcers, stadium seating, and even TV commentators.\u00a0 You could stream the championships live online.\u00a0 Team spirit was high as seats were filled on many sides of the stadium. \u00a0\u00a0Being in the presence of these teams and FIRST\u00ae, you can\u2019t help but feel both inspired and energized.<\/p>\n

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Towards the end of the championships, we attended a reception hosted by the founder, Dean Kamen, and the FIRST\u00ae organization.\u00a0 Dinner was delicious and in-between courses they featured videos starring many teams that made it against all odds.\u00a0 One Team was from a high-risk, low-income area and they interviewed the original members of the teams.\u00a0 Many of them said that not only did FIRST\u00ae change their lives, it saved their lives.\u00a0\u00a0 One team made it to the championships with a robot made of mostly scrap metal.\u00a0 Dean also announced new partnerships with the International Association of Chiefs of Police as well as the President of Israel.\u00a0 Dean\u2019s goals are to bring science to the forefront of young minds outside of the classroom and in a hands-on way, changing the world one robot and student at a time.<\/p>\n

Missed out on last week\u2019s post about Worlds at Houston? Check it out here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also, check out my experience as a Guest Emcee at the Midwest Regional here<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Next week, meet one of our sponsored Tech Teams, Mechanical Paradox!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following week Worlds took place in St. Louis, MO.\u00a0 This will be the final year at the America\u2019s Center as next year it will be held in Detroit, MI.\u00a0 The FIRST\u00aeLego\u00ae League and FIRST\u00ae Robotics competition were held at the Dome while FIRST\u00ae Lego\u00ae Junior and FIRST\u00ae Tech Challenge were held at the St. Louis Union Station. The Robot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":2295,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[6],"tags":[419,71,427,396,431,429,428,418,430],"aioseo_notices":[],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2289"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2318,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289\/revisions\/2318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/us.misumi-ec.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}