Forget video games, television, and the Internet -- today's youth are taking technology to a new level by inventing their own. Colorado FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) champions youth from local Colorado school districts and six surrounding states in their engineering efforts to design and build their own robots with the help of university and professional mentors.

Youth will compete March 27, 28, and 29 at the FIRST Robotics Competition Colorado Regional, where they will be judged on design excellence, sportsmanship, and teamwork. Finalists will go on to compete in the national championships. The regional event takes place at the Magness Arena inside the Richie Center at the University of Denver. For event information and times, visit http://www.coloradofirst.org/.

Founder Dean Kamen describes the mission of FIRST is "to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology heroes."

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an international high school robotics program that was created in response to the declining number of college engineering enrollments. By creating math, science, and technology programs, Colorado FIRST challenges teens to interact with technology in order to build and ensure Colorado's future workforce of engineers. With mentors from industry and universities, students have six weeks to design and build a robot to compete with more than 1,100 other teams at 33 FIRST regional competitions. Local Colorado participation includes high schools in Aurora, Boulder, Collbran, Colorado Springs, Conifer, Denver, Edgewater, Fort Collins, Kremmling, Littleton, Longmont, Louisville, Loveland, Nederland, Niwot, Thornton, Watkins, and more.

Since 1989, FIRST was founded on partnerships with businesses, educational institutions and governments. Many Fortune 500 companies provide funding, in-kind donations and volunteers to support the program, including Ball Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, Hewlett Packard, and CH2MHILL. As a result of funding, FIRST graduates receive university funding from more than 330 scholarships aggregating almost $8 million annually.