Digi-Key Electronics, a distributor of electronic components, received recognition for 10 years of support of the FIRST Robotics Competition.
For the last decade, Digi-Key has supplied the international competition’s official Kit of Parts with a $50 voucher to the Digi-Key website to purchase items for each team’s robot, which helps ensure that the teams have access to millions of the components they need to build their designs.
In addition to its Diamond-Level sponsorship of the global FIRST Robotics Competition, Digi-Key supports the organization in a variety of ways closer to home. Digi-Key sponsors the Great Northern Regional competition in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and several Digi-Key employees have served as judges at the event. Digi-Key also sponsors the local Thief River Falls Lincoln High School team, ProDigi Team 3277, and the company's employees serve as mentors for that team.
"Digi-Key is extremely proud of our decade-long sponsorship of the FIRST Robotics community, both locally and around the globe," said David Sandys, senior director of technical marketing at Digi-Key. "The combination of science, technology and competition challenges students and gives them a taste of real-world engineering to prepare them for futures in the field. It’s great to see so many FIRST participants go on to study and pursue careers in engineering and other STEM related fields, ultimately pushing tomorrow’s innovative technologies forward around the world."
Chris Rake, chief operating officer at FIRST, added: "Digi-Key is a pioneering FIRST Robotics Competition supporter who changed the Kit of Parts program for the better by allowing teams to select the materials they need directly from the Digi-Key website. We are continually grateful for Digi-Key’s longstanding partnership as we work together to inspire students in engineering and technology.”
FIRST Robotics is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future. Working with adult mentors, including Digi-Key employees, FIRST Robotics Competition participants have limited time and resources to design, build, program, and test their robots to meet the season' engineering challenge. Teams compete at events that reward design excellence, competitive play, sportsmanship, and high-impact partnerships between schools, businesses and communities.
