Brandon Blackhawks Robotics Team Invited to FIRST Robotics Finals; Continental Sponsorship Helps Team to International Competition

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 15 -- The Brandon Blackhawks FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Team has been invited for the first time to the competition's finals at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Ga., April 15-17. The FIRST program is a multinational competition that teams engineering professionals and young people to solve engineering design problems.

"Working with such an enthusiastic group of young people and seeing them succeed is extremely rewarding," said Continental's Chief Engineer, Advanced Technologies and Brandon Team Mentor Phil Headley. "Also, mentoring these students allows our team here at Continental to further demonstrate our commitment to education, teamwork and innovation."

The Blackhawks are one of more than 40 FIRST teams from Michigan to be invited to the finals. With a total of 295 teams competing in Atlanta, there will be nearly 20,000 people in attendance for the championship tournament. NASA will be webcasting the event on Friday and Saturday, at http://robotics.nasa.gov/first/2004/regionals.htm .

The Blackhawks' robot includes a microprocessor, radio-frequency transmitters and receivers, electrical components, motors, batteries and other hardware. The team began designing and building the robot in January, and was ready for their first competition approximately six weeks later.

Prior to the finals, the Blackhawks participated in two competitions -- they placed 36th out of 62 teams at the Great Lakes Regional in Ypsilanti, Mich. in March, and seventh out of 75 teams with a 6-1-1 (Win-Loss-Tie) record at the Canadian Regional in Mississauga, Ontario, in early April.

FIRST competitions include two phases: Phase One is the autonomous mode, in which the robot has been preprogrammed to perform tasks without human control; Phase Two is the student-controlled mode, in which the students guide the robot in various tasks using a remote control. A description of the game can be found on the FIRST Robotics Web site, at www.usfirst.org .

Brandon High students on the team include: Jessica Alasin, Brian Carol, Marie Dabiesz, Cincy Dewerdt, Brandon Dorda, Andy Ehde, Nick Falzon, Alex Hayden, Bryan Hockey, Mitch Kusza, Logan Mancini, Joe Neil, Andrew Sage, Brian Schmidtke and Aaron VanDis.

In addition to Headley, Continental engineers mentoring the Brandon High School team are: Dan Dupuis, Scott Gobrogge, Larry Hayden, Kelli Heath, John Maher, Bartek Majewski, Nathan Metcalf, Peter Schnerer and Pamela Schuck. They assisted the team with the design of the robot and worked alongside the students during construction.

With 2003 sales of approximately $13 billion (US), Continental AG is a major supplier of brake systems, chassis components, vehicle electronics, tires and technical rubber products. Continental Automotive Systems' North American operation is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich. For additional information, visit these websites: www.conti-online.com and www.contitevesna.com .