Digi-Key Electronics Recognized as a Diamond-Level Supporter for the 2020 FIRST® Robotics Competition Season
Sponsorship Includes In-Kind Contributions and Participation as a Leading Supplier for the Official Kit of Parts
THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn., Jan. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Digi-Key Electronics, the leading global electronic components distributor, is proud to announce its Diamond-Level Sponsorship of the 2020 FIRST® Robotics Competition and a leading kit of parts supplier for nearly 4,000 participating teams around the world.
FIRST is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future. This kind of real-world learning can spark a life-changing passion for technology and Digi-Key is pleased to support such a unique opportunity for our future generation of engineers.
This is Digi-Key's 8th year sponsoring the international competition and supplying the official kit of parts with a $50 voucher to the Digi-Key website to purchase parts for each team's robot. With over 2.2 million items in stock, the Digi-Key voucher will help ensure the teams are able to get all of the components they need quickly. Digi-Key has also setup a special landing page at digikey.com/FIRST for students to redeem their vouchers and access additional resources.
This year's FIRST Robotics Competition theme is FIRST RISE, powered by Star Wars: Force for Change. FIRST Robotics Competition teams will work toward building a new metropolis, harnessing renewable sources of energy to power the grid, generate new growth, and keep our community engaged, with INFINITE RECHARGESM. Working with adult mentors, including Digi-Key employees, FIRST Robotics Competition participants have limited time and resources to design, build, program, and test their robots to meet the season's engineering challenge. Teams compete at events that reward design excellence, competitive play, sportsmanship, and high-impact partnerships between schools, businesses and communities.
"Digi-Key is proud to support FIRST and help encourage students' excitement around engineering," says Y.C. Wang, director, global academic program for Digi-Key Electronics. "It is a privilege to help guide the potential career paths of students wanting to pursue jobs in technology and engineering, and we are particularly excited about this year's theme surrounding renewable energy sources."
Beyond sponsorship of the global FIRST Robotics Competition, Digi-Key supports the organization in a variety of ways closer to home. Digi-Key sponsors the Great Northern Regional competition in Grand Forks, N.D., Feb. 26-29 at the "Leader in Technology" level. Several Digi-Key employees also serve as judges for the Great Northern Regional. Digi-Key also sponsors the local Thief River Falls Lincoln High School team, ProDigi Team 3277, and six Digi-Key employees serve as mentors for that team.
"Digi-Key was one of the pioneering FIRST Robotics Competition suppliers offering vouchers for goods on their webpage. They helped take the Kit of Parts in a more team-friendly direction by letting teams pick the materials they need without putting strain on their already stretched budgets. We're so grateful for Digi-Key's generosity, as well as for serving as a corporate role model to others in industry," said Chris Rake, vice president of programs for FIRST.
Digi-Key even hires FIRST alumni. One such successful program alum is Michael McGrath, an electronics technician at Digi-Key and FIRST Robotics Competition alumni. McGrath joined FIRST in high school, which led him to learn about the Technical Scholarship Program which Digi-Key offers, and connected him with several mentors at Digi-Key who helped fuel his passion for electronics and building. To learn more about McGrath's experience with FIRST leading him to a career in electronics technology, check out this blog post.
To learn more about Digi-Key's sponsorship of the FIRST Robotics Competition, please visit DigiKey.com/FIRST.
About Digi-Key Electronics
Digi-Key Electronics, headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minn., USA, is an authorized global, full-service distributor of electronic components, offering more than 10 million products, with over 2.2 million in stock and available for immediate shipment, from over 800 quality name-brand manufacturers. Digi-Key also offers a wide variety of online resources such as EDA and design tools, datasheets, reference designs, instructional articles and videos, multimedia libraries, and much more. Technical support is available 24/7 via email, phone and webchat. Additional information and access to Digi-Key's broad product offering can be found by visiting www.digikey.com and on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Editorial Contact
Shelli Lissick
Bellmont Partners
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SOURCE Digi-Key Electronics
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