The FIRST Robotics program was created in 1989 to motivate students to pursue careers in STEM fields through hands-on robotics competitions. It targets different age groups, from elementary school through high school. Over 137,000 students from 42 countries participate annually in competitions where they design and build robots to perform tasks within a set time limit. The program was founded by inventor Dean Kamen who created several medical devices and is working on a water purification system. This year's competition theme challenges teams to collect and transport balls with their robots in under two minutes and fifteen seconds. While most teams are returning, 300 newcomers will also compete with robots that must be under specific size and weight limits.