DENVER, April 4, 2022 /CSRwire/ - March Madness isn’t just about basketball. Those looking for big upsets, epic match-ups and unforgettable performances found that and more at the FIRST Robotics Colorado Regional Competition, held March 25-26 at the University of Denver. Sponsored by Arrow Electronics, the event challenges high school students to build industrial-size robots and maneuver them through a series of challenges against other teams.

This year’s competition drew 41 teams from Colorado and neighboring states, who used their engineering skills and creativity to explore how goods will be transported in the future. Competing in alliances of three teams, they demonstrated their robots’ skill in processing cargo for transportation through both pre-programmed commands and while under user control.

“The FIRST Robotics competition provides students with an opportunity to solve problems, collaborate and test the performance of their technology – great training for careers in technology and innovation,” said Joe Verrengia, Arrow’s global director of corporate social responsibility programs and a former competition judge.

After a two-year hiatus from live competition due to COVID restrictions, the students were eager to showcase their abilities and team pride, sporting an assortment of colorful attire and in a few cases, hair dyed to match their team colors.

ColoradoFIRST, the organization that hosts the regional competition, distributed 26 awards during the event, including honors for industrial design, entrepreneurship, and team spirit. Six total teams secured spots at the FIRST Championship in Houston, Tex., on April 20-23 based on points scored in the competition and judged awards.

Arrow has sponsored the competition since 2012.

About Arrow Electronics
Arrow Electronics guides innovation forward for over 220,000 leading technology manufacturers and service providers. With 2021 sales of $34 billion, Arrow develops technology solutions that improve business and daily life. Learn more at fiveyearsout.com.

About FIRST and ColoradoFIRST

ColoradoFIRST (www.coloradofirst.org) is a Colorado 501(c)(3) founded in 2001 to represent and achieve the mission of FIRST (www.firstinspires.org). FIRST is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured afterschool programs. Boosted by a global support system of volunteers, educators, and sponsors that include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, teams operate under a signature set of FIRST Core Values to conduct research, fundraise, design, build, and showcase their achievements during annual challenges. An international not-for-profit organization founded by accomplished inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, FIRST has a proven impact on STEM learning, interest, and skill-building well beyond high school. Alumni of FIRST programs gain access to exclusive scholarships, internships, and other opportunities that create connections and open pathways to a wide variety of careers.

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Arrow Electronics, Inc.

Arrow Electronics, Inc.

Arrow Electronics’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program guides today’s innovators to a better tomorrow. With our help, our partners will transform their ideas into real and influential achievements that will help people and the communities in which Arrow works.And just as technology touches all facets of our lives, we intend to foster new, cross-cutting collaborations between Arrow, CSR partners, customers and suppliers, so efforts yield astonishing and unforeseen results. Working together, we can make the world a better place — now and Five Years Out.

Learn more at www.fiveyearsout.com.

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