FIRST Robotics Competition
2010 Chairman’s Award Criteria
June 30, 2009

About the Chairman’s Award

The FIRST Robotics Competition is about much more than the mechanics of building a robot or
winning a competitive event. It is about the partnership among people who are part of the FIRST
community and the impact on those who participate in FIRST programs with a united goal of
achieving FIRST’s mission. The FIRST mission is to change the way young people regard
science and technology and to inspire an appreciation for the real-life rewards and career
opportunities in these fields.

The concept of the Chairman’s Award includes Regional Chairman’s Awards, which enable
FIRST to recognize more teams for their exemplary efforts in spreading the FIRST message
and their talents in organizing materials for their presentations.
The winning entries of the Regional Chairman’s Awards
will travel to the FIRST Championship to compete for the 2010 Chairman’s Award.

Overview

The Chairman’s Award was created to keep the focus of the FIRST Robotics
Competition on our ultimate goal to transform the culture in ways that will inspire greater levels
of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as encourage more of today’s youth to
become scientists, engineers, and technologists.

The Chairman’s Award represents the spirit of FIRST. It honors the team that, in the judges’
estimation, best represents a model for other teams to emulate, and which embodies the goals
and purpose of FIRST. It remains FIRST’s most prestigious award.

FIRST presents a Regional Chairman’s Award at each local competition. Only the winners of
the these Chairman’s Awards will be eligible to compete for the Chairman’s Award presented at
the FIRST Championship.

Hall of Fame members, which are teams that have already won the Chairman’s Award, are
ineligible to compete for the Regional Chairman’s Award.

First-Year (Rookie) and NASA Grant Teams:

Because the Chairman’s Award recognizes sustained excellence and impact, not just a one
year team effort, it is not possible for a first-year (rookie) team to receive this honor. However,
FIRST invites and encourage rookies to develop a Chairman’s Award submission which may
be evaluated by the judges in the Pit who are determining the winner of the Rookie All-Star
Award. This submission will document where the team started its FIRST journey and will also
provide background for documenting the results of the team’s efforts – it will be a great way to
start the team’s efforts to win the Chairman’s Award.

Note to Rookie Teams: If you prepare a Regional Chairman’s Award, print a copy to give the
Judges when they visit you at your Pit Station. The judges will not be viewing them online.

Teams receiving NASA Grants must provide a copy of this submission as part of the grant.
All teams are encouraged to print a copy of their final submission for their records and to
confirm that the submission was accepted.

Submission Information

The criteria for the 2010 Chairman's Award are essentially identical to those in the past, with
special emphasis on recent accomplishments in both the 2009/2010-year and the preceding two
years. The judges focus on teams’ activities over a sustained period, as distinguished from just
the six-week design-and-build time frame.

As in the past, teams may only submit at one Regional competition for judging. Teams
submitting for both the Chairman’s Award and the Woodie Flowers Award should note that both
awards are judged at the same event. Students working on the Woodie Flowers Award
submission and those team members working on the Chairman’s Award submission should
coordinate to select the best event for the team.

Submission Content

The Chairman’s Award is presented to the team judged to have created the best partnership
effort among team participants and which best exemplified the true meaning of FIRST through
measurable impact on its participants, school, and community at large.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is not about machines; it is about the experience of people
working together toward a shared goal. Documenting and preserving your team’s FIRST
experience becomes an important component of the over-all FIRST experience.

There is no single “best way” for a team to win the Chairman’s Award. Many factors come into
play. The primary factors the judges will evaluate are:

 How strongly does the submission document the impact FIRST has on the learning
experience of the students, school curriculum, engineers, and/or community during the
2009/2010 team year as well as in prior years?
 Has the team explained/demonstrated why/how it should be a role model for other
FIRST teams to emulate?
 How well has the team communicated its excitement and impact within the entire
school, community, and beyond (state/nation) through participation in FIRST during the
2009/2010 team year as well as in prior years?
 Has the team documented an innovative way to spread the FIRST message?
 How strong of a year-round team partnership effort is reflected during the 2009/2010
team year as well as in prior years? (You can define partnership in many ways,
including: the partnership among the team’s students/corporate sponsor/engineers;
school/university sponsor/engineers; students/adults; community/team)
As a whole, does the content of the documentation exemplify the true meaning of FIRST?

The Chairman’s Award submission should include documentation for all the above factors.

Submission Format

Regional Chairman’s Award submissions will be submitted on line. The submission, excluding
the Executive Summary, will be limited to 10,000 characters, including spaces and punctuation,
and may include up to four (4) photographs totaling no more than 1.0Mb of memory.

Submission Process

The URL for the Chairman’s Award Submission is www.firstawards.org. Follow the directions
shown on the site to submit your team’s entry. Teams may only submit at one regional event
at which the team will compete. This site will be available beginning January 12, 2010 at noon
EST.

Submitters can easily enter information, save it, and return to the site to edit the Chairman’s
Award submission until they are ready to submit it for final judging. All entries will be final on
Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. EST. No entries will be accepted or altered after this
date.

Chairman’s Award submitters will go to the website and enter the following required information:

Team Number:
Regional Selection:
Executive Summary – Teams must complete all the following fields in order to be
considered for this award. The information included in the Executive Summary is not included in
the total character/word count for the Chairman’s Award Submission.
 Team Name
 Corporate/University Sponsors
 Briefly describe the impact of the FIRST program on team participants with special
emphasis on the 2009/2010 year and the preceding two years (500 characters allowed,
including spaces and punctuation)
 Examples of role model characteristics for other teams to emulate (500 characters
allowed, including spaces and punctuation)
 Describe the impact of the FIRST program on your team and community with special
emphasis on the 2009/2010 year and the preceding two years (500 characters allowed,
including spaces and punctuation)
 Team’s innovative methods to spread the FIRST message (500 characters allowed,
including spaces and punctuation)
 Describe the strength of your partnership with special emphasis on the 2009/2010 year
and the preceding two years (500 characters allowed, including spaces and punctuation)
 Team’s communication methods and results (500 characters allowed, including spaces
and punctuation)
 Other matters of interest to the FIRST judges, if any (500 characters allowed, including
spaces and punctuation)
 Upload pictures (maximum of 4 allowed, not to exceed 1.0Mb in total)
 Essay (10,000 characters allowed, including spaces and punctuation, or approximately
1500 words)
 Electronic signature of Team Captain/Student Representative certifying that the
document is complete and accurate

Once the Chairman’s Award submissions are completed, they are sorted and posted on a
private, password-protected site where only the judges can read the entries. Each regional will
have all the candidates who successfully completed the submission listed and the judges will
review the submissions. Teams should always print and bring a hard copy of their submission to
the event.

In preparing this document, bear in mind that students, engineers, teachers, community, school,
sponsors, families, and other supporters, as well as the machine itself are all integral parts of
your team experience. Your submission needs to clearly convey the factors outlined above.
Important Note: Chairman’s Award Judges also review the information entered in the Judges
Information Page as part of the Chairman’s Award submission. This information is entered as
part of the Team Information Management System (TIMS) at www.my.usfirst.org/ Refer to Section
1 Communications for more details about the Judges Information Page.

Submission Deadline

Chairman’s Award submissions are due no later than Thursday, February 18, 2010. 11:59
p.m. EST.

Chairman’s Award Video (DVD) Requirement

Teams competing for the Regional Chairman’s Award must provide a DVD to the judges at the
event. The content of the DVD should explain what the team has done to be a Regional
Chairman’s Award winning team. The video may be shown to the judges during the teams 5
minute presentation time at the discretion of the teams, however the team must provide the
equipment for viewing (i.e., laptop). Although it is a requirement of submission, it is not a
requirement for the judging process. If the team has prepared an acceptable video and has met
all of the criteria, the winning video may be shown as part of the closing ceremonies on
Saturday.

The video format should be as follows:
 A 16:9 (“widescreen aspect ratio”)
 Not more than 3 minutes long, no shorter than 1 minute long.
 Include a clean mono or stereo audio track
 Free of copyright restrictions, including music.
Video may consist of:
 Video tape footage
 Voice over/music over still photographs
 Animated presentation
 PowerPoint converted to movie file format
Editing capabilities
 Many computer operating systems include movie editing software that can be used to
achieve acceptable results.

Note: Teams do not have to use professional equipment to get professional results. There
is a good chance that someone on your team or in the school does this as a hobby and can
be recruited to help.

Sound
 Should be clear of pops and hisses

Copyright
 If using copyrighted music must have written permission
 If using Creative Commons Music (CCM) on line, the music must be used in accordance
with the appropriate license and properly attributed.
 Music may not contain obscene or suggestive language

Content Guidelines:
 Please do not identify non-team minors by name or specific location. Use only first
names, no locations. Important Note: If you include full names or if you include any
name and the location of a minor (e.g., a student at Kennedy Elementary School in
Bedford Falls, MA), you will need to supply releases from the minor’s parents.
 Please do show us what you are doing to earn the Chairman’s Award

Other required information (to be included on the cover of the jewel case):
 Your team number (also include on the front of the DVD)
 Your team name (also include on the front of the DVD)
 The Regional competition you are entering
 Your corporate and university sponsors
 Permission for FIRST to use your video marketing & promotional material and/or live at
FIRST events & competitions. (this form can be found at the end of this document)

Note: The Chairman’s Award is our highest honor and winning teams represent the highest
standards of FIRST. When the Chairman’s judges have narrowed the selection to two or three
teams, these contenders for the Chairman’s Award at all events will have their DVD viewed by
the Judge Advisor for appropriate content and to ensure that the above guidelines have been
met. Although the Chairman’s judges will not be judging your video as part of your submission,
a DVD with inappropriate content will disqualify a team for the award.

Tips, Timelines & Tools

White Dwarf Productions has graciously created Chairman’s Award Video Project Guidelines
and Helpful Tips, Chairman’s Award Video Project- Suggested Timeline, Chairman’s Award
Video Log and a helpful video all of which can be found on the FIRST website. We encourage
you to take advantage of these items created by a renowned professional producer.

Judging Process at Regional Events:

By 10 a.m. on Friday mornings of each Regional Competition, a list of interview
times (which will either be pre-assigned by the judges or available for self selection by the
teams, at the option of the judges) for the submitting teams will be available at the Pit
Administration station. Interviews will take place during the day on Friday. A panel of judges
will review the Chairman’s Award entries at each Regional and will conduct on-site Chairman’s
Award interviews with those teams who have entered a submission for that regional event.
Judges will select one winner for the Regional Chairman’s Award at each regional competition.
Interviews are limited to ten (10) minutes with not more than three (3) team members (student
or adult mentors). The team selects these representatives. During the first five (5) minutes of the
interview, the team members give a presentation to the judges, and the judges will use the
second five (5) minutes for their questions and answers.

NOTE 1: If the presentation requires special equipment, the team is responsible for bringing it to
the interview, and the time required to set up the equipment will count as part of the team’s
allotted 5 minutes.

NOTE 2: Teams are encouraged to bring copies (not originals) of documentation, supporting
their submission, to leave with the judges. This documentation may include, but is not limited to:
 Letters of reference
 Newspaper and magazine articles
 Program Books

As part of the Chairman’s Award judging process, FIRST judges will also review the Executive
Summary page AND the judges information page for each of the submitting teams. Your team’s
submission will be a key factor in the selection process, along with the judges’ own observations
of the team at the competitions.

The Chairman’s Award Championship Award Process

At The Championship, a panel of judges will review the all the winning submissions and will
select the Chairman’s Award winner. This winning team has the additional honor of choosing
one of its junior or senior student members to be the recipient of the Allaire Medal.

Team communication methods and results (500 characters including spaces and punctuation)

Our team’s main form of communication is our award winning website. Through it, we can send email updates, weekly bulletins, share media, and more. Also linked to the website is our team’s Wiki. With that, any team member can update information about set up for demonstrations, basic meeting format, and much more. Our management team has a constant email chain to keep track of upcoming events, as well as occasional conference calls for more pressing matters. During the actual meetings, the team always has a pre meeting and a wrap up to ensure everyone knows the objectives for the night, as well as keep them all updated on future events and plans.

Our team’s main form of communication is our award winning website. Through it, we can send email updates, weekly bulletins, share media, and more. Also used is our team’s Wiki. With that, any team member can update information about anything our team may need for future reference. Our management is in constant contact via email to keep track of future events, and occasional conference calls for more pressing matters. During meetings, the team always has a pre meeting and a wrap up to ensure everyone knows the objectives for the night, as well as keep them all updated on future events and plans.

1. How strongly does the submission document the impact FIRST has on the learning
experience of the students, school curriculum, engineers, and/or community during the
2009/2010 team year as well as in prior years?

In efforts to try and reflect the FIRST message, our team has worked hard to create the technology leaders of the future. Many students join the program unsure or uninterested in math and science, but leave ready to tackle the technology challenges of the future. Avon alumni attend top colleges, and current seniors already have great plans for next year. Our team has many new members that are already really excited about the program. No matter if a student is just starting out in the high school or is ready to start their own life in college or elsewhere, the team has made sure that students who leave Avon High School have been changed for the better.

Team’s innovative methods to spread the FIRST message (500 characters allowed,
including spaces and punctuation)

The Überbots strive to spread the FIRST message by integrating robotics into community demonstrations and promoting the ideals of leadership and teamwork. We have held various demonstrations at museums and town-wide activities as well as being featured on local media such as Mr. Science Guy. Also, we were the only robotics team at Medi2008, a conference for medical and engineering professionals. Our team has stressed the importance of innovative technologies and how they relate to our future.