Since 2006, the award winning Llano Estacado RoboRaiders (FRC1817), a competitive robotics team, has offered pre-college students in the Lubbock area the chance to work side by side with Texas Tech University engineering students, faculty and community members to design and build a 150-pound finely tuned metal machine.  While the design and construction of this robot takes place over a short six-week period in the spring, the RoboRaiders provide services and opportunities year-round to students of all ages in our community.

            The RoboRaiders are a For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) robotics team.  FIRST is a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization reaching more than 37,000 students.  FIRST was founded by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, and the program and its participating teams are sponsored by companies such as NASA, National Instruments, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, DARPA and over 1000 others. 

           Student who participate on the team are given opportunities to develop skills they would not typically learn in traditional classrooms.  In addition to mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, manufacturing and design, students learn valuable life skills.  Working on diverse interdisciplinary teams helps develop self-confidence, teamwork, personal responsibility, community involvement and the value of initiative and dedication.  FIRST students gain more than “book smarts”; participants are real-world performers.  In fact, so many universities feel that participation in FIRST is a great predictor of success that over $11 million dollars has been offered in scholarships to participants from institutions such as Georgia Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rochester Polytechnic Institute, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. 

            We firmly believe that the FIRST program has the best return on investment by providing students with the best tools for success in science and technology fields, and we aren’t alone.  It has been shown that students in this program are significantly more likely to go to college, particularly in a science and technology field, more likely to aspire to a post-graduate degree and 10 times more likely to have an apprenticeship, internship, or co-op in their college freshman year. 

           We want to provide all these and more opportunities and advantages to students in our area but we need team involvement and financial support from our community.  A typical FIRST robotics yearly budget runs between $25,000 to keep the team going and $50,000 for a championship season like our last. We are currently seeking additional serious partners to provide leadership, mentoring, and sustained funding for our team.

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