Rockets require immense power. Known as Impulse, the FIRST Robotics Team at the STEM School Highlands Ranch near Denver, Colorado, views themselves as a rocket. AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology is proud to fuel their explorations.
AMT recently donated $5,000 to Impulse to cover the ongoing costs of competing in the prestigious robotics league, including travel, materials, and registration fees. FIRST Robotics is the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education. FIRST teams build functioning robots to complete specific real-world challenges.
The donation is part of AMT’s ongoing Miles for Manufacturing (M4M) fundraising efforts. M4M brings together manufacturing leaders for fun 5K run/walk events throughout the country, holding them in tandem with signature AMT events, including the industry’s largest trade show, IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show. AMT donates 100% of the 5K proceeds to schools. Now in its eighth year, M4M has donated more than $125,000 to STEM programs across the United States.
“AMT Smartforce Development uses the Miles for Manufacturing 5K event at IMTS to support STEM schools, career and technical education (CTE) programs, FIRST robotics teams, and community-based organizations that champion underserved, underrepresented students in the Chicago area,” explains Greg Jones, vice president, Smartforce Development. “When AMT holds a Miles For Manufacturing 5K event in other cities around the country, we seek out programs that are deserving and have a funding need that we can help fill.”
The teens who make up the Impulse team are long-time FIRST participants, and their skills and abilities continue to evolve with each competition. Viewing themselves as a rocket – an intricate piece of machinery that has tons of moving parts and requires extensive collaboration to get off the ground – helps keep the team focused. We look forward to watching them soar.
