--- title: University’s FIRST Center becomes community STEM hub description: FIRST is a global robotics community preparing young people for the future and the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM education. image: https://community.firstinspires.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/bobnichols-395x380.jpg --- ### Bob Nichols Director, *FIRST *Robotics Community Center at Kettering University I first introduced *FIRST *robotics to Kettering University, my alma mater, in 1997. Back then, an old gymnasium on campus was being used for storage and I was able to place a piece of carpet down in the corner for community teams to practice on.  My colleague, Dr. Henry Kowalski, recognized the space as an opportunity for *FIRST* community teams supported and/or sponsored by Kettering. In 2014, the *FIRST* Robotics Community Center opened its doors on our Flint, Michigan, campus. Home to eight *FIRST* Robotics Competition teams, the Center includes a full-sized practice field, a machine shop, and a design and programming lab. Beyond that, our Center offers so much more than a warm space for teams to meet and store their equipment during Michigan winters. The *FIRST* Robotics Community Center is a year-round STEM education hub meeting several needs in the Flint community. Here’s how: **We are a collaboration space** The eight high-school [*FIRST* Robotics Competition](https://community.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc) teams based at the *FIRST* Robotics Community Center consistently collaborate with each other on strategy, design, build, and resources. This collaborative atmosphere exists even though they are creating different robots and will be competing against each other. We also house practice fields for *FIRST* programs and host end-of-year and off-season competitions for *FIRST *Robotics Competition, [*FIRST* Tech Challenge](https://community.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc), and [*FIRST* LEGO League](https://community.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll). I see centers similar to ours as the future of *FIRST, *particularly for high schools that don’t have the resources, space, equipment, or mentors to build robots and/or host *FIRST *teams and events. **We are a knowledge hub** One of the biggest challenges for *FIRST *teams is finding mentors. Finding teachers/mentors within the schools are critical for the long-term sustainability of the programs. The *FIRST* Center has partnered with Flint Community Schools and the Crim Fitness Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Flint that leads after-school programming at each school, to train teachers, mentors, and students. For teachers who are new to robotics and may be somewhat intimidated, the training really helps excite and motivate them, and often I see a light go on!  They are then anxious to take it back to the classroom.  We are now offering teacher training to other school districts. We host many *FIRST* summer camps (27 last summer) for elementary, middle, and high school students and a preseason fall workshop series that is open to any *FIRST *Robotics Competition teams (mentors and students) in Michigan to attend for programming, electrical, mechanical, and machine shop training – at no charge. Programming workshops include C++, Java, LabVIEW, and more.  These workshops really help teams prepare for the next *FIRST* season. We recently started a series called “Engineering Inspiration Talks.” We invite technology leaders to talk to students and share their cool technology. We want to inspire and motivate students to see there are so many different choices for career paths. **We are a STEM outreach center** Reaching out into the community is part of our mission at Kettering. Our goal was to get involved in the community and get more kids interested in STEM careers, and *FIRST* is a key way we accomplish that. Last summer, Ford Motor Company sponsored a two-week summer camp at the Center for Flint High School students, in which students received free SAT Prep training, learned to program an autonomous Ford Mustang, and designed and built a robot to compete at the end of the camp. Two students from the summer camp are now on the Flint F.I.R.E. *FIRST *Robotics Competition team, including a programmer who I hope will be a future Kettering student. He was the key to getting the robot built. Through a grant, we’re working with Flint Community Schools to pilot a *FIRST *LEGO League camp at an elementary school and to support five *FIRST* LEGO League teams started this year. We hope to add 12 or 13 more teams by the end of this year. We’ve received significant grant program and foundation support. It is vital that we serve our community. **We are a university** This year, approximately 30 percent of Kettering’s incoming freshmen are *FIRST* alumni. In fact, in partnership with *FIRST*, Kettering University awards up to 50 scholarships to *FIRST *alumni each year, with a five-year value of up to $25,000. Kettering is proud to have awarded over $4 million dollars in [*FIRST* Scholarships](https://community.firstinspires.org/scholarships) since 1999. Some of our undergraduate students eagerly help us manage the *FIRST *Center through college work-study, and many [Kettering students and *FIRST* alumni mentor or coach *FIRST *teams](https://community.firstinspires.org/stories/first-lego-league-first-mentor). It creates a strong bond between our Kettering students and high school students from Flint and the surrounding communities. Our Center’s location is critical to its success. We’re on the campus of a university. *FIRST* teams and Flint students gain access to our students, faculty, and alumni – and become more comfortable in the university environment. Kettering students get to take advantage of their engineering skills and work within their community. That’s a win-win-win for *FIRST*, for the greater Flint community, and for Kettering*.* [Learn how *FIRST *is closing the STEM gap in Michigan.](https://community.firstinspires.org/stories/filling-stem-gap-michigan)   [ Share Your Story](https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/5d5985a569d8423b8a0739c9efa27cea) ** [Educators](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/educators), [Supporters](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/supporters) #### Share it: [** ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://community.firstinspires.org/universitys-first-center-becomes-community-stem-hub) [** ](https://twitter.com/share?url=https://community.firstinspires.org/universitys-first-center-becomes-community-stem-hub) [** ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://community.firstinspires.org/universitys-first-center-becomes-community-stem-hub) ![Default Author Image](https://community.firstinspires.org/hubfs/Community%20Blog%20v2/images/FIRST-author-icon.svg) Author [Admin](https://community.firstinspires.org/author/admin) ### Related Posts ** [Team Stories](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/team-stories), [Supporters](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/supporters) “More Than Robots” documentary inspires global audiences February 11, 2025 ** [Educators](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/educators), [Team Stories](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/team-stories), [Mentor Stories](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/mentor-stories) FIRST mentors change students’ lives October 25, 2018 ** [Educators](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/educators), [Mentor Stories](https://community.firstinspires.org/topic/mentor-stories) A New Type of School Teaches Skills for the Future | FIRST January 3, 2018 ![](https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1200203950045814&ev=PageView&noscript=1) ![](https://ct.pinterest.com/v3/?tid=2615041699514&noscript=1) ![](https://ct.pinterest.com/v3/?tid=2615041699514&event=PageVisit&noscript=1)