Announcing the 1st Annual Robo Showdown in Austin, TX!

[StephBrierty]

All - this email just went out to the registered teams. Thanks to 118, 418, 1477, 1817, 2158, 2468, 2583, 2585, 2587, 2789, and 2881 for registering!!!

Thank you for registering for the Robo Showdown. Unfortunately, we recently had to make a difficult decision to cancel the competition. While there was a lot of momentum for the event, including community support from sponsors and partners, we were unable to register the number of teams that we felt was necessary to have a high-caliber, action-packed event. Teams that previously expressed an interest in attending did not register because of scheduling or other issues. The summer months are a busy time for high school students, and many teams found that they could not travel to the event as planned.

However, we want to share our enthusiasm about the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) program with all who attend NIWeek 2009. We will continue to provide high FIRST exposure at NIWeek, including the following:



Promotion of FIRST in the Thursday conference keynote presented by Ray Almgren, Vice President of Academic Relations
A keynote delivered by Dean Kamen, the founder of FIRST, during the NIWeek Robotics Summit
A technical conference session from the NI R&D team regarding FIRST technology
FRC robots on display in the expo area
Those of you who are interested in robotics overall, can find many ways to educate yourself at NIWeek. Attend the Robotics Summit, visit the Robotics Pavilion on the expo floor, and hear Dr. David Barrett, the director of SCOPE at Olin College, present a special keynote on how robotics in industry and engineering education is poised to revolutionize the way we interact with technology in our daily lives.

While the competition is cancelled, please know you are still invited to attend NIWeek, which offers three days of interactive technical sessions, targeted summits, hands-on workshops, and exhibitions on the latest developments for design, control, automation, manufacturing, and test.


Mentors: Register for the conference sessions at a special $300 USD discounted rate. Visit ni.com/niweek to register and enter code FRCmentor. At NIWeek, you gain valuable knowledge about NI technology, network with other engineers, and attend technical sessions that may be useful in your profession or role as a FIRST mentor. You may be especially interested in the Robotics Summit featuring experts such as Dean Kamen and Ellen Purdy from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Team Members or Mentors: Register for the free Expo-Only Pass, and you can visit the expo floor to see more than 100 demos of real-world engineering using NI technology. With this pass, you can also attend the morning conference keynotes.Visit ni.com/niweek for details.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding this change. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. All teams who registered and paid will receive a full refund. We wish you and your team continued success in the future.


Warm regards,

Stephanie Brierty
Academic Product Marketing Engineer
(512) 683-5839


So let me know if you have questions.

Thanks again for everyone's support!