Luminary, celebrity and internationally-acclaimed inventor and engineer, Dean Kamen, spoke at Kettering University to unprecedented fanfare, applause and adoration at the Recycle Rush FIRST Robotics District Competition on March 7.

Kamen founded FIRST in 1989 to show students of every age that science, technology and problem-solving can be fun and rewarding. He spoke about the evolution of the organization, competition and how the State of Michigan is a national leader in robotics.

“In the next few years, we are going to continue our path of making FIRST a part of the legacy of this country,” Kamen said. “This Michigan model is becoming the standard for how FIRST grows.”

Dean Kamen spoke to the crowd, signed autographs and posed for photos Saturday.

In 2014, 77 rookie FIRST Robotics teams were started in Michigan. Michigan has 349 teams in total which is 110 more than the State of California.

“The number of rookies from this one State is more than the sum total of all the rookies in all the other States combined,” Kamen said. “That’s the fact.”

Kamen spoke about the evolution of FIRST Robotics from its infancy to the current day phenomenon while highlighting the efforts of talented engineers who contributed to its growth. He also described FIRST’s resilience amidst the collapse of the auto and banking industries which resulted in economic confusion in the country. Although many different solutions to these catastrophic problems were considered, Kamen and the FIRST Board of Directors remained steadfast that FIRST was going to be part of the solution to the nation’s ills.

“The idea behind FIRST -  to create a passionate generation of new engineers is the best antidote to the problem,” Kamen said. “... We shouldn’t stop until every kid in this country has an opportunity to do something like this.”  

Kettering President Dr. Robert K. McMahan gave Dean Kamen a tour of the FIRST Community Center.

Kamen finished his speech by praising Michigan Governor Rick Snyder who acknowledged Kettering University's efforts related to robotics including the FIRST Robotics Community Center (FRCC) on campus. During his 2015 State of the State Address in January. Snyder called Kettering a “true leader” in FIRST, a praise that Kamen returned back to the Governor.

“Your governor is a great spokesperson,” Kamen said. “I’ve asked all of the other Governors to listen to his State of the State [address] and see how a Governor [who] exercises real leadership and understands real issues responds to FIRST.”

Michigan has adopted a district competition model and has allocated State funding to start FIRST Robotics teams, both factors that are contributing to the success of robotics in the area.

This year marked the 16th consecutive year that Kettering has hosted a FIRST Robotics competition on campus. In addition to constructing the FRCC to permanently provide practice and building space for area teams, Kettering has sponsored Metal Muscle (Team 1506) for the past decade and given more than $2 million in scholarships to students participating in FIRST Robotics since 1999.

“If you do it the right way, if you follow the example of Michigan, the rest of the country can succeed like you,” Kamen said.

The three-day competition on campus concluded on March 7 with Flint-area teams earning high honors. The EngiNerds (Team 2337) from Grand Blanc and Megatron Oracles (Team 314) from Carman-Ainsworth partnered with VO2VH (Team 5784) from Vassar to form the alliance that won the district competition.

Kettering’s sponsored team, Metal Muscle (Team 1506) earned the Entrepreneurship Award. The Atherton ARTists (Team 5660) currently reside in the FRCC and were given the Rookie Inspiration Award.

The full list of winners is below.

District Winners:

• Team 314 - Megatron Oracles (Carman-Ainsworth H.S.)
• Team 2337 - EngiNERDs (Grand Blanc H.S.)
• Team 5784 - VO2VH (Vassar Senior H.S.)

District Finalists:

• Team 5533 - Mustangtronics
• Team 5201 - Bronco Bots
• Team 70 - More Martians

Other Awards:

• Rookie All-Star Award: Team 5527 - Cyber Phoenix
• Engineering Inspiration Award - 1711 - the Raptors
• Chairman's Award - Team 2604 - Metal and Soul
• Team Spirit Award - Team 1322 - GRAYT
• Imagery Award - Team 5524 Nerds with Attitude
• Creativity Award - Team 4994 Kingston Robo-Cards
• Entrepreneurship Award - Team 1506 Metal Muscle
• Rookie Inspiration Award - Team Team 5660 Atherton ARTists
• Highest Rookie Seed Award - Team 5533 Mustangtronics
• Quality Award - Team 314 Megatron Oracles (Big MO)
• Gracious Professionalist Award - Team 3535 Galaktech Invaders
• Industrial Design Award - Team 2337 EngiNERDs
• Keep it Simple Award - Team 1243 The Dragons
• Industrial Safety Award - Team 2337 EngiNERDs
• Innovation in Control Award - Team 5215 Steagles
• Excellence in Engineering Award - Team 70 More Martians