---

General Motors Powertrain and Pontiac Northern Win Two Awards at Great Lakes Regional of the FIRST Robotics Competition

23 March 1998

General Motors Powertrain and Pontiac Northern Win Two Awards at Great Lakes Regional of the FIRST Robotics Competition

    YPSILANTI, Mich., March 21 -- Bands and fans filled the
stands this weekend at Eastern Michigan University's Bowen Field House as the
GM Powertrain  Pontiac Northern Huskie Brigade team battled against 30 other
teams at the Great Lakes Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.  The GM
Powertrain Pontiac Northern Huskie Brigade was one of 31 teams representing
high school and industry partners at the Regional Competition.  Ten teams
sponsored by General Motors units competed.
    On Saturday the GM Powertrain Pontiac Northern Huskie Brigade received the
Johnson & Johnson Best Sportsmanship Award for their behavior on the field, in
the stands and in the pits assisting other teams.  They also received the
Special Judges Award for Marvelous Marketing for their promotion of FIRST,
their upcoming satellite broadcast of the national competition to Pontiac and
GMC dealers all across the nation, and their web page
http://www.huskiebrigade.com .
    The Huskie Brigade Powerdawg robot, drivers and human player had excellent
performance in the competition. Seeded sixth going into Saturday's tournament,
the GM Powertrain Pontiac Northern Huskie Brigade reached the quarterfinals
before losing a 2-1 decision to the eventual second place team.
    The Huskie Brigade will compete with 165 teams at the FIRST national
competition in Orlando, Florida held April 2-4.  Their nationwide satellite
broadcast will feature highlights of the national competition at EPCOT.  It
will air from 5-6 p.m. EST on Monday, April 6 at participating Pontiac-GMC
dealers. Check out the team's web site at http://www.huskiebrigade.com for more
information.
    FIRST teams up high school students with teachers and engineers to design
and build a robot out of a kit of parts in six weeks in order to compete
against other robots in competitions throughout the country.  FIRST's vision
is "a world where science and technology are celebrated, where kids think
science is cool and dream of becoming science and technology heroes."

SOURCE  GM Powertrain