TORONTO, MONTREAL, CALGARY, May 1, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Over the weekend, high school students from Alberta, Ontario and Quebec earned top awards at the annual FIRST^® Robotics Championship, an event that gathered 30,000 participants, fans, educators, mentors, families, and industry leaders from all over the World, in St. Louis, MO.

It must be noted that the most prestigious award given by FIRST, the Chairman's Award, honours the team that demonstrates the greatest commitment to spreading passion about science and technology into their communities and schools. Simbotics, team 1114 from Governor Simcoe Secondary School in St. Catharines, is the first Canadian team to ever receive this honour and has now been inducted into the FIRST Hall of Fame, a title the team members earned for their continued excellence in developing educational resources for FIRST teams, including a student developed iPhone app.

Moreover, the Rookie All-Star Award, granted to FIRST Quebec team 3990, celebrates one rookie team that exemplifies a young but strong partnership effort, and that inspires students to learn more about science and technology. The Quality Award, granted to Ontario team 2056, recognizes machine robustness in concept and fabrication.

This year's challenge
This year, teams had to face the following challenge: each school has had six weeks to build a high-quality, functional robot able to play basketball in a competition called Rebound Rumble, played between two Alliances of three teams each.  Each Alliance competed by trying to score as many basketballs in the hoops as possible during the 2 minute and 15 second matches.  Alliances also worked together to balance on bridges at the end of the match to earn additional points.

About FIRST
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international non-profit organization designed to inspire students to pursue studies and careers in science, engineering and technology. FIRST's programs reach 212,000 students in 56 countries. Together, FIRST Robotics Canada, which was started in 2002, and FIRST Robotics Quebec, founded in 2009, now reach over 10,000 Canadian students.

For more information or to view the partners, please visit:
www.firstroboticscanada.org and www.robotiquefirstquebec.org

SOURCE FIRST Robotics Canada