October 15, 2012, CEA Industry Forum, San Francisco—Dean Kamen, inventor, entrepreneur, and director of the F.I.R.S.T ( For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) presented the need for a louder voice to influence change in non-technical areas. Currently, less than half of all high school students in the US graduate.
We have a major culture problem. Kids are more enamored by sports figures and entertainment stars than any technologists. The technology is taken for granted. Without greater efforts to continue, science and technology will not be around for the US to maintain technical and financial leadership.
Sports are aspirational, so we need a vehicle for superstars in technology, varsity sports for the mind. These ideas have resulted in the formation of F.I.R.S.T., a 6-week program to give kids in high school an opportunity to get involved in technology. The program started in '92 with a small number of schools in Massachusetts. Since then, it has grown to include 141 universities who have to contribute scholarships to the program, and to a worldwide audience of over 300,000 school-age children in 29,300 teams to make over 25,000 robots for the various competitions.
The high school program has expanded to include middle school and elementary school students. Last year, South Korea had 500 junior Lego (elementary school) teams in competition. The Ford foundation has financed a set of studies of the program, and found that half of the FIRST participants go on to college. Participants are three times more likely to go into engineering than other fields. Women are four times more likely to go into science or engineering than non-participants.
The program continues to grow and involves professional engineers and scientists as mentors to the students. Many of the Fortune 500 companies are contributing funds and people to the program and over 3,500 companies around the world participate as sponsors. Continuing commitments are in part due to the enthusiasm of the adult mentors from these companies, and the positive results everyone sees. Over 120,000 volunteers help in all areas of the short term programs, and others contribute throughout the year.
The students are exposed to technology, and learn not only engineering and rapid prototyping, but also develop self confidence and a greater interest in learning. The organization can always use more help, so look into the program and see how you and your company can enable more young people to participate and become involved in science and engineering. This can be one of the best investments you can make in your life and in the lives of those young people who you come into contact with.