About FIRST:

       FIRST stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology". It is a organization that was founded by Dean Kamen in 1989. The mission of FIRST is to inspire elementary through highschool kids about engineering and technology fields. FIRST originally developed the FRC (First Robotics Competition) compeition and went on to develop the FIRST lego league (using Mindstorms robotics systems) and FIRST Vex (a robot kit) competitions. By 2007, FIRST had grown to over 1,300 teams with a total of about 32,500 students. FIRST is a global competition and reaches as far as Brazil, Israel, Mexico, and the Netherlands. At the beginning of each FRC "season", the season challenge is revealed at the kick-off showing. From there, teams pick up a standard kit of parts comprised of the FRC controller, metal components, motors, and electronics, among many other things. The students then have six weeks to design, construct, tweek, and practice with their robots. After this six-week period, teams attend their regional compeitions, the winners from the regional competitions move on to the national compeition, held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.


Links:
Official FIRST website
Chief Delphi Forums (a major hub for news on FIRST)
Official FIRST-wiki
FRC Facts