Mouser Electronics, Inc., the New Product Introduction (NPI) leader empowering innovation, will once again sponsor the FIRST® Robotics Competition Hall of Fame exhibit at the 2020 FIRST Championship events in Houston and Detroit. Nearly 100,000 high-school students on nearly 4,000 teams from 35+ countries around the world are vying in 182 competitions for a chance to advance to one of the two 4-day championship events.

The FIRST Championship events will occur at Houston’s George R. Brown Convention Center, April 15 – 18, and at Detroit’s TCF Center, April 29 – May 2. The Mouser-sponsored Hall of Fame exhibit honors the winning teams of the esteemed Chairman’s Award at both championship locations. Instead of awarding the Chairman’s Award to the team that earns the most points in the competition, FIRST honors the team that best exemplifies the goals and values of FIRST.

“Since Mouser’s beginnings, education has played an important part in our mission,” said Kevin Hess, Mouser's Senior Vice President of Marketing. “We are proud to be the Hall of Fame sponsor for the FIRST Robotics Competition since 2014. The organizations gives students a platform for innovation, a chance to solve real engineering challenges, and an opportunity to build character and self-esteem.”

For many years, Mouser has been a major supporter of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a leading student-serving nonprofit advancing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Mouser sponsors FIRST competitions at the local, regional and international levels. Joining Mouser in the sponsorship is valued supplier Analog Devices, Inc.

Each FIRST Robotics Competition team receives a kit of parts — including motors, batteries, a control system, a PC and a mix of automation components — with no instructions. Teams have limited time to transform their kits into working robots designed to perform specific tasks.

With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser strives to empower innovation among design engineers and buyers by delivering advanced technologies. Mouser stocks the world’s widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is continually updated and offers advanced search methods to help customers quickly locate inventory. Mouser.com also houses data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.