Continental 'FIRST' Team Ready to Compete in International Science Competition

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., March 20 -- Continental Teves, a unit of Continental AG, is sponsoring a group of students from Brandon High School (Ortonville, Mich.) in the FIRST Robotics Competition, a multinational competition that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem. Continental engineers are mentoring the students as they prepare for a series of competitions in 2003.

FIRST, which stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology," is designed to show students that the basic concepts of science, math, engineering and invention are exciting and interesting. FIRST was established in 1989.

The designing, building and testing of a robot that includes a microprocessor, radio-frequency transmitters and receivers, electrical components, motors, batteries and other hardware, began in January and continued for six weeks.

Once these young inventors create their robot, the team participates in regional competitions that measure the effectiveness of the robot, the power of collaboration and partnerships, and the spirit and determination of the students. The object of the competition is to pit robots against each other while trying to score the highest number of points in a game designed by FIRST.

Every year, the rules of the competition change. This year's challenge is called "Stack Attack." Robots are required to collect and stack plastic storage containers on their side of the playing field. The location of the containers and the height of the stacks will determine each team's score for each round. Additional points are awarded for a robot that is positioned on the top of the ramp platforms.

More than 20,000 students comprising 800 teams in the United States, Canada, Brazil and the United Kingdom will participate in 24 competitions this year.

"Working with these students has been a great experience for everyone involved," said Phil Headley, chief engineer, Advanced Technologies for Continental, and one of the mentors for the Brandon students. "These young people brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm into the project, and I know our entire team got as much out of it as they did."

Brandon High students on the team include: Brian Carol, Brian Hockey, Adam Johnson, Nick Johnson, Logan Mancini, Will McCullough, Aaron VanDis, Chris Bordendorfer, Dan Cackowski, Joe Neal, Joe Tolant and a teacher, Bill Bonsky.

In addition to Headley, other Continental mentors include: Daniel Dupius (instrumentation technician), Scott Gobrogge (manager, Advanced Development Methods), Jay Gromaski (systems design engineer) and Sudhanshu Nigam (senior simulation engineer). The Brandon High School/Continental team is competing in regional competitions in Ypsilanti (Mich.), Evanston (Ill.) and Houston (Texas).

Continental Teves, headquartered in Frankfurt/Main Germany, is a unit of Continental AG, Hanover, Germany. With 2002 sales of approximately $12 billion (US), the Continental Corporation is a major supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, tires and technical rubber products. Continental Teves' North American operation is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich. For additional information, visit these websites: www.conti-online.com and www.contitevesna.com .

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