2021 FIRST Global

This background is a portrait of 2021 FIRST Global Challenge teams demonstrating their solution project themes.

IMPACT REPORT

MISSION FGC IMPACT FGRC THANKS PDF

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DR Congo

Greetings to all of our FIRST Global supporters around the world. I want to express my deepest thanks to all of you for making another year possible. Especially in times such as these, we see that even though talent is equally distributed among all kids in the world, opportunity is not. FIRST Global is the solution to closing that gap.

Despite the continuing pandemic, in 2021 we furthered our impact with new and exciting initiatives. FIRST Global youth from 176 nations were empowered by the tools of STEM to identify opportunities when others saw problems, and to be pioneers in STEM frontiers.

Teams worked together under the theme of “Discover & Recover” to innovate real solutions to problems faced in their communities through the Solutions Challenge, collaborating by forming alliances beyond assumed barriers of language, culture, and geography. Teams additionally polished their robotics skills by building robots equipped to complete tasks for the Robotics Challenge. This season we also opened a new domain for participants through the CubeSat Prototype Challenge, with several teams being the first youth in their country to launch their own nanosatellites into the atmosphere.

We’re also proud to have launched the first-of-its-kind virtual robot-building tournament, the FIRST Global RoboCo Challenge, where teams designed and built robots in the sandbox game world of RoboCo for service and industry applications. This is just the beginning of an exciting and expanding world of opportunities in the field of robotics and educational gaming for youth worldwide.

Palestine

FROM OUR FOUNDER

Throughout all these activities, participants have seen on the one hand how they can compete, each delivering better ideas than the next team. But more importantly, how they can work together. Realistically, we’re all on the same team. We’re all competing with global pandemics, climate change, food and water shortages, needs for education, economic equality, social justice, security, and much more. We need to make STEM opportunities like FIRST Global available to all kids around the world, so they can all participate in solving their own problems, and cooperate with each other to solve the world’s problems. FIRST Global is a testament to the power of teamwork and working together to make a positive change in the world, for today and the future.

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OUR MISSION

We build the next generation of global leaders by connecting youth worldwide to work together in innovating solutions to global challenges.

is to inspire leadership and innovation in youth from all nations by empowering them through education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

As we work to broaden our initiatives and make 2022 an even better year, you have the opportunity to be part of that positive change. Can we count on your support?

With thanks,
Dean Kamen

The FIRST Global Challenge is our key mechanism for accomplishing this. It brings together students from nearly every nation in an olympics-style robotics event themed around an issue of global importance.

2021 FIRST GLOBAL CHALLENGE

Solutions Challenge

Teams identified problems in their communities in the areas of education, environment, health, or economy, and then created a project to solve it using STEM. They then collaborated on international alliances to augment their work and come up with global solutions.

CubeSat Prototype Challenge

Teams used components from a provided Arduino-based kit to design and build a nanosatellite prototype and launch it into the lower layers of Earth’s atmosphere.

Mexico

South Africa

Malaysia

Robotics Challenge

Teams reinforced their robot design, build, and programming skills using a standard REV Robotics kit of parts to complete four individual build tasks representing different components of a FIRST Global robot.

The 2021 FIRST Global Challenge focused on advancing new ways STEM can prioritize practical solutions and counter the effects of the problems youth and their communities continue to face across the world. Under the theme of “Discover & Recover,” the virtual Challenge consisted of three main components, enabling students to strengthen their technical and soft skills, as well as bring benefit to their communities.

FIRST Global Team Honduras — Sowing STEM in Rural Honduras

For this group of teenagers, the challenges of poverty and limited educational resources aren’t a setback — they’re motivation to grow a STEM education community in rural Honduras.

From the initial seed, to sprouting their STEM center, each generation of the team is living up to the FIRST Global mission of using their abilities to effect positive change.

–Brianna from Team Romania

"I consider the FIRST Global Challenge the most rewarding experience that I had in high school, since I had the chance to contribute to solving a pertinent issue
in my community. We started as 10 high
school students but we finished as
confident and collaborative individuals
that made a change in our country,
showing what can be achieved in just
3 months. Thank you for this challenge!"

And They Persevered — The FIRST Global Afghan Girls Robotic Team

These girls just want to learn, but when political events caused a major upheaval in their country, they were faced with a difficult decision — to risk their education, or to say goodbye to all of their family and friends?

In order to best equip themselves to serve and help rebuild their country, they knew they needed to make sacrifices. So they persevered.

BY THE NUMBERS

177

81%

first-time
participants

38%

Through participating...

female
participa-tion

female-majority
or all-girl teams

kits

29%

with no prior
technical
experience

300+

teams

shipped
worldwide

STEM Talks,
Trainings &
Podcasts

(view here)

530+

200+

mentors

volunteers

Students improved in...

91%

learned new,
beneficial
skills

81%

increased
their STEM
knowledge

83%

81%

are more
interested in
pursuing a
STEM career

feel more
prepared for
STEM study /
a STEM career

88%

85%

had a productive
and enjoyable
experience despite
the pandemic

inspired to
give back to
their community

98%

96%

95%

Reasoning / problem-solving

Written & verbal communication
Understanding complex ideas
Time management
Adaptability
Research

Teamwork

93%

Navigating social situations /
interacting with people
different from themselves

90%

Mechanical design/contruction

Leadership

89%

88%

Outreach

Public speaking

87%

69%

Arduino coding
Computer aided design

62%

Blocks coding

48%

Java coding

Data sourced from FIRST Global participant self evaluations.

THE POWER OF STEM

Empowering the next generation with the tools of STEM unlocks a world of possibilities. Students combined their voices to share what STEM means to them in this powerful video.

Hover over the flags to read inspiration from students around the world.

"It’s important to provide a platform for students to discover their passion for STEM while simultaneously showing them how to be globally conscious and contribute to their communities. [The FIRST Global Challenge has] shown me how STEM can be used to be a force for good." – Male student, Team Bangladesh

"The FIRST Global Challenge seriously changed my life in 2021. I thought 2021 was gonna be a bad year because of COVID-19, but somehow joining the FIRST Global Challenge made me explore, learn, and improve." – Female student, Team Cambodia

A WORLD OF IMPACT

"Seeing the work every teenager across the globe puts into this challenge inspires me to work harder and gives me so much hope for the future! It makes me believe that we are the generation that will change the world for the better! The most important thing about FIRST Global is that it brings together people from all over the world!" – Female student, Team Greece

"I was not sure whether to pursue STEM careers because I didn’t believe I could do it, since in our community they believe it is for males. But after my experience with the 2021 FIRST Global Challenge, I made up my mind and I’m going for it." – Female student, Team Botswana

"It was a once in a lifetime experience that I will never forget! I learned a lot, met new people, and I had amazing personal and technical growth." – Female student, Team Brazil

"The FIRST Global Challenge changed me into a completely different person, someone who is confident in their abilities and can easily integrate into their society." – Male student, Team Tunisia

"I think the Solutions Challenge is probably the most important part of the project, because young people from all over the world get together, share their ideas to solve global problems, and exchange with others to be able to have the best possible solution." – Male student, Team Canada

"It is one of the best competitions worldwide because young people feel part of the implementation of new technologies for today. Through it we learn about the social and global problems that affect us and that with STEM we have solutions." – Female student, Team Honduras

Learn more about 2021 FIRST Global teams by viewing the 2021 team map.

2021 FIRST GLOBAL
ROBOCO CHALLENGE

RoboCo is a wholesome sandbox game about designing and building robots for service and industry applications to serve the needs of squishy, hapless humans in the world of tomorrow. This game concept is being actively developed by Filament Games and is still many months from release to the public.

A total of 37 FIRST Global teams got a sneak preview! This is the first digital game-based challenge we have hosted. There are more features under development that will be included in the game in the future release. View the Challenge website, competition results, and broadcast links at www.fgrc21.roboco.co.

87%

learned by virtually testing mechanical concepts

Burkina Faso

86%

believe the game made STEM learning more accessible

96%

The 2021 FIRST Global RoboCo Challenge, a first-of-its-kind virtual robot-building tournament, was a brand new way for FIRST Global teams to learn, engage with each other, and compete in a virtual environment.

want offerings like this in the future

93%

had fun playing the game

“Applying your idea to a real-world robot without any programming... that was amazing!”

Algeria

Seychelles

THANK YOU!

Special thanks to all of our sponsors, donors, mentors, volunteers, and everyone else who helped inspire the world’s youth in 2021.

2021 FIRST Global Challenge Celebration

Make sure to check out the 2021 Celebration for some inspiration! Our emcees highlighted new initiatives, impactful projects, and announced the award winners.

> DOWNLOAD 2021 IMPACT REPORT PDF <