On July 18 – 20th 2008 a dedicated group of teams and sponsors joined forces to bring FIRST to an international audience at the **Farnborough International Air Show **and **International Youth Day **in Hampshire, UK To learn more about the Farnborough International Air Show and International Youth Day please visit this site —> http://www.farnborough.com/Site/Content/intro.aspx We will also be posting pictures on CD later today.
The event was sponsored by BAE Systems, FIRST UK, and Exscitec, a UK based educational company. The participating UK teams were 1884 (The Griffins), 2120 (Doncaster Aimhigher), and 2448 (Ingenuity London). The US was represented by teams 217 (ThunderChickens), 341 (Miss Daisy) and 122 (NASA Knights) mentor Joanne Talmage.
The principal goals of the event were to create more FIRST teams in the UK, generate interest in a UK Regional and to foster greater awareness among UK students, schools, and companies.
The combined UK project team set up an amazing display which included a 2008 playing field, an interactive FRC driving area, as well as several information booths with handouts and video displays. Team 341 also provided copies of “Team in a Box” for any show patron that expressed an interest in learning more about FIRST. Several teams also drove robots around the airs show grounds, inviting people to our display area.
The three day event was a huge success attracting large crowds every day. Hundreds of children had the chance to drive a robot and view the 2008 FRC matches. In addition to hundreds of participating British families, we had guests from all over the world representing government, industry and educational institutions.
We also had a very special visit from British Parliament’s Chairman of the Select Committee on Science and Technology, M.P. Phil Willis.
This event was truly a team effort and shows what a handful of dedicated FIRST people can achieve when they share a common vision.
We are once again extremely thankful that BAE Systems, FIRST UK and Exscitec gave us this opportunity to travel to Farnborough and would like to recognize the US Embassy in Britain for their special welcome to the FRC Teams.
We are also grateful to have this chance to work with wonderful teams like 122, 217, 1884, 2120, and 2448. It was a blast every day we were together and we hope to continue working together long into the future.
Have a great summer and as they say in Britain……. “Cheers”!