FIRST is an international youth organization as well as a nonprofit organization that recognizes robotics and other STEM-related activities. FIRST TECH CHALLENGE is available to high school students as well as the FIRST ROBOTICS CHALLENGE.

This is CAD students will learn:

FTC gives students a lot of freedom and opportunities because it does not have many restrictions and allows students to use parts that they can 3D print, buy online, or even customize so their robots can be more complex creations. FTC teams can also get sponsored by big companies like Google and Coca-Cola. FTC teams usually have 10 to 14 members and run all year round. FTC teams also have to fundraise through outreach and help the community learn about robotics. So students do not need to be robotics geniuses to join a team and become successful. Nevertheless, students have to be dedicated towards the team because it can be very competitive and time-consuming.

This an example of a robot at FTC:

Overall, students learn so much like CAD, Java, basic robotics, teamwork, and how to design and basics of engineering when involved in FTC. It is a great competition available to all high school students and is one of the best STEM-related competitions. In addition, FRC is a slightly different competition and is also owned by FIRST; in FRC, students build robots that are 4X4X4 feet in magnitude, but the teams are much larger because they only have 6 weeks to build a robot so they need many more mentors and students.