long-term projects, seemed to go from the drawing board to the physical finished projects just my favorite part. i learned how to manage and lead large groups. it is overwhelmingly helpful and supportive. the outpouring of passion and ishusiasm at first event refreshing, and watching enthusiasm of so many young people in science and technology gives me hope. it helped me discover my passion for engineering, and because of first, i can't say i can't -- i want to pursue electrical engineering as a career. i have applied to several schools in virginia and the nation, and i hope my stint with first will give me an edge up in admissions. i'm sure the skills i learned

with first will serve me well with my studies and beyond. >> thank you very much, and i'm sure they will. >> i first learned about first in 2004. firster -- provided the opportunity to provide solutions to real challenges. as we complete the challenge we also learn viable skills like teambuilding, communication, leadership, and stem. i've refined my ability to seek my solutions for problems and develop my own desire to learn. working with robots has helped the learn about idea development, metallics,

metalworking and motors by applying concept i learned in the classroom to a real-life problem. challengegiven us a each year and then we go to the process of brainstorming, designing to my prototyping, building, and rebuilding multiple times until a working solution is achieved. in addition to the six week time period. many students involved in the program experience for the first time the importance of interaction and communication with adults such as mentors and judges. while that was not a problem so much for me because of my experience in becoming an cap. first at the ideas of a conversation last year with a family friend who became interested in the program. roboticsted in a lego trip and took it to a school trip in rwanda.

she went on to serve as a judge at a recent tournament and hopes to become a mentor in the near future. as a student i have always had an interest in math and science, but it was not until the last few years to m streets with first i realized i would like to pursue a career with stem. i have applied to virginia tech and i hope to work in solving life challenges. >> excellent. thank you very much. now i would like to recognize the next witness. >> thank you among members, for myng here and listening to testimony. i am in the 12th grade. a significant number of this district are here. my experience with first is i started with fll in the seventh grade. educationsay my

touched well on the aspects of first, and i want to talk about my store. describe it in three ways -- spirited, challenging, and fun. i may basketball, football, frc hasan, but for me been so different from every other activity i has been through, there is a subculture behind it. flowers, others, they are the people who are my role models with respect to engineering. that is unique to first and to these stem activities. challenging -- i think first the challenge that is performing has pushed me to engage these stem fields to firmly and more thoroughly than anything i have

ever done in class. .p.ave done all these a classes, and i have gotten the grades. being in first, i have gotten better grades. it has been very unique and more different and very valuable. it has been fun. we have all alluded to being fun is critical in engaging students in stem in these fields. has done that in these programs. importantly, the fact we get to interact with these professional mentors made a huge difference in my own life. i work with a person who is here who is with me today, and these people have become role models in pursuing an engineering career and getting back to the community. frc has made a personal change on me in that level. i want to tell you a short story about how i have come to appreciate first more.

recently i went to japan to present original research. at that conference for high school students, there was something called the world premiere research institute in japan. when i was there, they were asking me, what do you guys do in school? what is it that you do that allows you to do such good research? we were doing such research that not doe students could for lack of support. when i told them about first, about how we managed a 000 budget, they said, our kid smart enough to do that? it allowed me to appreciate theseand the program that unique private sector stem programs are engaging in here,

all of our students on the frc. code.earn things hopefully three that maybe this discussion will include is teacher support, which was talked about extensively. it is difficult in my school to get teachers to support programs. i had to -- you mentioned i needed to find a new sponsor because the old teacher said they could not do it this year. it was hard. teachers said i have so much work in terms of testing that they were not able to be sponsors. hopefully some way teachers can be more focused or allowed to sponsor these kind of private- sector stem programs, and if you do not have the support no team can survive. internships, real world experience like frc are

critical, and i think up here the doctor was talking about college admissions, an important aspect to this stem engagement for students. yeah, on a personal note i plan to because of first major in biomedical or electrical engineering when i get to college. i do not know where yet. hopefully i will learn by the end of march. thank you. you, foryou for all of your testimony. i am not sure at your age that i could have testified that well in front of congress. and i still cannot. [laughter] thank you, for pointing that out. fascinating to hear from the students. i want to remind the committee minutes,imit of five and i will recognize myself for five minutes to ask some questions.

, you notedtimony your focus on the business side of first. and you tell me about what the business side entails as part of an frc team? >> the business side does a lot a work. we manage all the awards. we enter everything, the graphics, especially is a huge part of the business side. i am on community service, which we reach out, donate, and do everything we can to help. there are multiple things, and they have a big part of it. i do not know where we would be without graphics. intricate,y large, complicated thing. i do not know if all teams are run like that. at least mine is. it is a very good system. >> i would like to elaborate on

the less technical aspect of the team. , mine inthese teams particular, are run like a corporation. there is a leadership charger, and the product team produces that is a robot, but there is all the support that goes into running an organization, so you have funding people. all these teams are self-funded. they do not get funding through the scope. so they seek corporate sponsorship. they have to find mentors, if there is no infrastructure in place, to help get mentors. all this is done by students. people, as an executive of my team, i have marketers, i have is this people, i have a design and website people, and these are all people that you need to run a first team, so it is not just

about the engineers, even that is always the focus, but we say this to people when we are recruiting for the team, there's a place for anyone. set,tter what your skill public speaking, writing, there is a place for you, and that is what the business side is a out. >> fascinating. i will start with you on the next one. have the activities you participated in during bureau products club, the first competitions, changed your approach to your other schoolwork, and as a follow-up, have the activities changed how you think about problems and challenges outside of school? that thesetely think challenges have -- the gentleman talked about analysis and synthesis. i have taken stuff from frc where i have learned about robot parts or technologies or coding,

and i am able to understand that and multiply it what ever -- and apply it to whatever i am doing in school. frc, ier i learned in move that to what i learned in technology. being in first allowed me to be involved in multiple internships, and from those i am now applying that to class. we have to provide some research by the end of the year. andare in an internship from there you produce a scientific paper. some of the skills i learned of time in terms management, i'm am able to apply that in that respect. there definitely is a mix in between those two. i have experience with first, i have been mostly kind of a nuts and bolts guy, if you will, doing most of these physical works on the robot, and that is what inspired me to get

into the computer science classes that we have at our school. it was because i wanted to learn more about how you make those things do what they are designed to do. first definitely, what has planted the seed for me to learn more about what it is all about, how you make things work. so it got me started, and now i am seeking my oh route outside of first through my classes to learn more about the rest of things, and hopefully i can come back to first with my new knowledge and help possibly with the programming. thank you. the things you are learning with first, has that changed your perspective on school work? >> it has not changed the perspective, but what i have learned in first i have been able to apply outside of school, as with my fellow people were

saying. first takes up a lot of your time, and you have to learn how to manage that time. you have to learn how to prioritize as well. from being the leader howhe team, i have learned to lead people. you cannot fire them if you are not doing their job. how do you motivate these people and engage them, and that is not something that i can only apply to first, but also to any other group project with students. how do i get these people motivated? that is a big part of it. >> do you have any comments on that subject? >> it affects your time management, most of all. once you're there, you're pretty week.every day of the you have to figure out your homework and all the other things. that is all i have to take