Delphi Automotive Systems Wins FIRST Robotics Championship
5 April 1998
Delphi Automotive Systems Wins 'First' National Championship
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Delphi Automotive Systems started the season
by raising its support of FIRST to new heights -- and ended it by winning the
organization's national robotics championship here today at Disney's EPCOT
Center.
Kokomo (Ind.) High School, sponsored by Delphi Delco Electronics Systems,
emerged victorious from a field of 166 teams of high school students,
engineers and teachers.
Kokomo, which had been the national runner-up in FIRST's inaugural
tournament in 1992, won this year's event despite earning only the No. 53 seed
in seeding competition Friday.
Based on the tournament seeding, four of Delphi's five sponsored teams
placed in the top third of the field -- including Warren (Ohio) G. Harding
& Trumbull County Joint Vocation School (36th), Pontiac (Mich.) Central
(48th), and Northwestern High School in Flint, Mich. (50th), and Kokomo
(53rd). The fifth Delphi team, Buena Vista (Saginaw, Mich.), was seeded 116th
but won a tournament game in its first year.
Off the field, Delphi won two major awards. Delphi Energy & Engine
Management Systems and Northwestern High School was named "Rookie All-Star"
award for outstanding first year performance; and the Delphi Delco/Kokomo team
earned the "All-Around Technical Excellence Award."
"I'm so proud of the students," said J.T. Battenberg III, president,
Delphi Automotive Systems. "This was one of the most intense competitions
I've ever seen. It demanded skill, intense focus and quick-on-your-feet
thinking. As a result of this experience, some students may now be
considering careers in engineering. As for our engineers, I think many of
them now remember why they fell in love with engineering. Everybody wins."
Active in FIRST since 1992, Delphi raised its leadership role to a new
level this year:
-- Delphi more than doubled its sponsorship commitment by supporting three
new high schools (Flint and Saginaw, Mich.; Warren, Ohio) and
introducing FIRST to almost 100 new students.
-- Delphi and General Motors Corp. donated $500,000 to FIRST to help the
non-profit group expand its reach. (The donation makes Delphi a
"Foundation Sponsor.")
-- Delphi President J.T. Battenberg III joined FIRST's board of directors
to help guide FIRST's growth.
-- Delphi served as a sponsor for one of FIRST's five regional
competitions -- the Great Lakes Regional at Ypsilanti, Mich.
(March 19-21). Thirty-one teams participated. (Delphi's support of the
regional was especially significant to teams lacking the resources to
travel to Orlando -- in many cases, the regional provided them with the
only opportunity for high-level competition against other teams.)
In regional competitions, Delphi's teams won a number of awards and
recognitions, including:
Great Lakes Regional (March 19-21, Ypsilanti, Mich.)
-- Champions: Delphi Interior & Lighting Systems and Pontiac Central
-- Finalist: Delphi Delco Electronics Systems and Kokomo High School
-- #1 Seed: Delphi Interior & Pontiac Central
-- "Best Play of the Day": Delphi Delco Electronics & Kokomo High School
DEKA New England Regional (March 12-14, Manchester, N.H.)
-- Champions: Delphi Interior & Pontiac Central
-- #1 Seed: Delphi Interior & Pontiac Central
Houston Regional (March 5-7)
-- Champions: Delphi Interior & Lighting Systems and Pontiac (Mich.)
Central H.S.
-- #1 Seed: Delphi Interior & Pontiac Central
-- Motorola Quality Award: Delphi Interior & Pontiac Central
FIRST, which stands for "Inspiration and Recognition of Science and
Technology," is an international program designed to get high school students
as enthused about science, math and technology as an athletic competition.
FIRST joins engineers and students together for a specific mission: to
design, engineer and construct a fully functional robot, built from a kit that
includes a control system, electrical components, motors, batteries, and other
hardware in six weeks.
After meeting size, weight and other requirements, students operate the
robots in a competition designed by FIRST. Four regional competitions were
held across the United States in March (including one co-sponsored by Delphi
at Ypsilanti, Mich.), leading to the national competition April 2-4.
Delphi Automotive Systems, with headquarters in Troy, Mich., USA, is the
world's most diversified supplier of automotive components and systems. With
the recent integration of Delphi Delco Electronics Systems, Delphi operates
208 manufacturing facilities, 46 ventures and 27 technical centers in
36 countries. Regional headquarters are located in Paris, Tokyo and Sao
Paulo. Delphi can now be found on the Internet at http://www.delphiauto.com.
DELPHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS - "FIRST" TEAM PROFILES
Delphi Delco Electronics Systems/Kokomo (Ind.) High School
Robot Name: Technokat 7
Number of Students: 62
Number of years in competition: 7th
Awards: 1998 National Robotics Champions
1998 National "All-Around Technical
Excellence"
1992 National Robotics Finalist
Team Highlight: As one of the original competitors
in the FIRST Competition, we have
seen our team grow into a year-
round robotics club and a Kokomo
High School tradition.
Delphi Interior & Lighting Systems/Pontiac (Mich.) Central High School
Robot Name: Chief Delphi
Number of Students: 38
Number of years in competition: 3rd
Awards: 1997 National Chairman's Award
1997 National Robotics Finalist -
EPCOT
1997 Johnson & Johnson Mid-Atlantic
Regional Top Seed
1997 DEKA New England Regional
Judges Award
1996 National "Rookie Allstar"
Award
1996 DEKA New England Regional
"Rookie All-Star" Award 1996
WPI Scholarship
Team Highlight: Doubled the number of schools in
our 2nd Annual Chief Delphi
Invitational Robotics Tournament
Delphi Energy & Engine Management Systems/Flint (Mich.) Northwestern
H.S.
Team Nickname: Delphi Wildcats
Robot Name: Ferocious Feline
Number of Students: 27
Number of years in competition: 1st
Awards: 1998 "Rookie All-Star Award"
Delphi Packard Electric Systems/Warren G. Harding (Ohio) High School &
Trumbull County (Ohio) Joint Vocational School
Robot Name: Xtrembot
Number of Students: 31
Number of years in competition: 1st
Delphi Steering Systems/Buena Vista High School, Saginaw, Mich.
Robot Name: Excalibur
Number of Students: 38
Number of years in competition: 1st
SOURCE Delphi Automotive Systems