Two high school teams sponsored by Nordson Corp. participated in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics championship held recently in Atlanta, GA. The Nordson-sponsored Northview High School team from Duluth, GA, and Middletown Public School team from Middletown, RI, each qualified in regional rounds and competed in the FIRST Championship. The Middletown team made it to the quarter finals before being eliminated.

In addition to the Georgia and Rhode Island teams, Nordson also sponsored teams from San Dieguito Academy in Encinitas, CA and Lorain Admiral King High School in Lorain, OH. Nordson provided each of the four teams with a $6,000 grant. Additionally, company engineers acted as mentors to the student teams. Nordson also provided sponsorship support to the Buckeye Regional competition, which was held in Cleveland, OH.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an international program for high-school-aged students designed to inspire interest in engineering and technology. Through the competition, teams build a robot that competes in a series of challenges. More than 137,000 students in 23 countries participated in this year's FIRST competition.

For more information about the FIRST program, visit www.usfirst.org. Nordon’s website is at www.nordson.com.