The First Robotics Rocket City Regional Competition

Johnny Stephenson, director of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's Office of Strategic Analysis & Communications, addresses the crowd during the March 16 award ceremony following the first day of competition at the FIRST Robotics Rocket City Regional at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. Ed Sparks, of the Morgan County Mech Tech team, received the award for Volunteer of the Year at the March 16 award ceremony. Mech Tech, comprised of students from five high schools in Morgan County, Alabama, also won the Industrial Design Award. The team was one of three regional finalists that will advance to the FIRST national championships April 18-21 in Houston. The other two regional finalists were Burning Magnetos of Fort Dorchester High School in North Charleston, South Carolina, and OGRE of Opelika High School in Opelika, Alabama. Mech Tech and Golden Hurricane from Columbia High School in Huntsville, were "house" teams sponsored by Marshall.