LabVIEW Community – Help Inspire Engineering Interest in Thousands of High-School Students

Do you remember what initially sparked your interest in engineering?  It may have been a class, or a particular teacher.  Now is your chance to give back.  NI is sponsoring the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).   FIRST strives to engage and inspire tomorrow’s engineers and scientists by providing an exciting and competitive robotics competition where students can learn math, science and engineering skills while also having fun.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!  SHARE YOUR LABVIEW EXPERTISE WITH FIRST STUDENTS!

Starting in 2009, students in the FIRST Robotics Competition will be using NI CompactRIO, which can be programmed with NI LabVIEW.  We need LabVIEW experts who want to help these students throughout the competition season.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP:

1- Share your expertise online.

Students are visiting ni.com/first every day to ask questions about cRIO and LabVIEW.  Do you have example code you could share?  Or maybe you have tips and tricks for good LabVIEW development.  >>Visit ni.com/first today.

2- See FIRST in action at a weekend workshop or regional competition.

The competition season officially kicks off in January, and teams are holding training workshops now to prepare.  We need skilled LabVIEW experts to attend these training sessions!  Do you have one Saturday to spare?  Do you think you can help teach LabVIEW to high-school students?  >>View a schedule of events

3- Mentor a team!

Does the idea of working with the next generation of engineers inspire you?  You might be the perfect mentor for a team in your area.  Teams need professional engineering mentors to help them build a better robot in 2009.  >>Register today to receive more information on mentorship opportunities.

4- Volunteer to Present LabVIEW Training for the FIRST Robotics Competition

Starting in 2009, 45,000+ high school students in the FIRST Robotics Competition will use NI CompactRIO, programmable with LabVIEW or C.  We’d like you, the LabVIEW experts, to share your LabVIEW knowledge with these students so that they can successfully program their robots with LabVIEW. View the list of kick-off events to see if there is one in your area.

View more information.

5- Post to and Help Monitor the FIRST Robotics Competition Forums.

We welcome your posts and involvement in the FIRST technical support forums.  When you post VIs or answer questions on the forums, you’ll be helping ensure success for students in the FIRST Robotics Competition. Vist the FIRST Forums now

View the tutorial.

We appreciate the time and effort involved in volunteering for the FIRST Robotics Competition.  To all of the LabVIEW programmers and alliance members who are helping, we are offering a few Thank You Gifts. View a list of gifts