Governor Visits Robotics Contest

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush opened the competition rounds of the FIRST Regional Robotics event by mingling with the 51 teams of high school students and accepting a special award honoring his support of the event. More than 1,000 students from schools throughout Florida, several U.S. states and Puerto Rico competed. They engaged in colorful, high-energy matches in which robots that they designed and built tried to throw or project balls through the air into goals. “This is a way to make science, math and competition something that’s fun and exciting,” Bush said, adding that many of the students will go on to earn engineering and science degrees in college that will prepare them for high-tech jobs. Bush received the first “Governor’s Award” from two students competing in the event. The award recognizes teams that are the most successful in creating partnerships with other teams, a key point of FIRST Robotics’ mission. After accepting the award, Bush spoke with students on most of the participating teams and posed for pictures with them. Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings also visited the robotics competition. She spoke at the annual VIP luncheon at the Fairwinds Alumni Center. NASA-Kennedy Space Center and the College of Engineering and Computer Science co-host the event to develop Florida’s high-tech workforce.