What are FIRST and MOE?

What do students in FIRST do?

Students in FIRST work with engineers to build a robot within a six week time frame. After the six weeks, all the robots are packed into crates and shipped to competition sites all over the world. They then engage Dean Kamen's trademarked "coopertition" - simultaneously cooperating and competing.

Who is involved with FIRST?

The heart and soul of FIRST are the students. They are the ones Dean Kamen hoped to capture when he started the competitions in 1992. However, the students wouldn't be able to build the wonderful robots with out the teaching and guidance of the mentors, boosters, and teachers who give so much time and energy to make FIRST work and grow.

Where are the competitions?

FIRST has regionals all over the world for an energetic six weeks, all leading up to the master Championship Event in Atlanta. The FIRST site has a list of all the regionals and tournaments on their website.

How can I become involved?

• Join a team as a student or a mentor.
• Become a sponsor for your local FIRST robotics team.
• Volunteer to be a judge, a referee, or one of the other millions of jobs at your nearest FIRST event.

When did MOE start?

MOE started in 2000 as a FIRST team. Our robot that year, Big MOE, was a regional semifinalist in the Philadelphia Regional, as well as a Championship semifinalist.

What do students in MOE do?

Students in MOE are responsible for a wide variety of roles. Before the build season, students on the team spend Monday nights learning how to work in the lab and acquire the skills necessary to build the robot in a program we call MOE U. From our mentors and peers, we learn the fundamental ideas of engineering, as well as the technical skills. However, not every student learns every applicable form of engineering. We self select into fields of study - electrical, mechanical, programming, or web - and spend MOE U learning all we can about those fields.

What about the mentors?

The majority of our mentors are DuPont engineers, however, engineers from other firms, as well as teachers, accountants, and builders also are present on our team. The mentors teach and guide the students in a way that is both safe and fun.

Sponsors?

Our sponsors donate goods and money to the team necessary to not only build our robot, but also eat dinners, travel to our competitions, and host our website. Every year, the students write personal thank you letters to our sponsors. We also list all of our sponsors on the website.

Where is MOE?

MOE meets in DuPont's Barley Mill Plaza site in Wilmington, Delaware.

Why is MOE "kind of a big deal"?

In 2007, MOE was the recipient of the National Chairman's Award. This is the highest honor FIRST bestows upon a team each year. The team must embody the spirit of FIRST in every way - showing gracious professionalism, teamwork, sportsmanship, passion for engineering and learning. Visit our Chairman's page for more information.

GO MOE!!!