FTC Team Duct Tape is honored to be joining FRC Team 79 Team Krunch, and FLL Teams 7649 and 1940, iRoboChicks and Radical RoboChicks, two all-girl teams sponsored by Girl Scout Troop 1315 , at the upcoming National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) conference on Jan. 14, at the Hyatt Regency in Tampa.

Billed as “The Meeting for Everyone in Public Television“, the NETA conference luncheon that day will feature Paul Gudonis, the president of FIRST , as the keynote speaker. Team Duct Tape is deeply honored to be representing the FIRST Tech Challenge program, and is looking forward to the opportunity to meet Mr. Gudonis at the event.

Team Duct Tape will be joined by mentors Paul Markun, of Tampa Technik, and Pete Grotsky, of the Florida West Coast Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at the luncheon, to hear Mr. Gudonis speak. Afterwards, Team Duct Tape, Team Krunch and the two RoboChicks teams will be able to demonstrate their robots during an hour long Q&A for conference participants, and to answer questions about their experiences in FIRST.

This is a wonderful opportunity to help inform the national educational television community about FIRST and what an important and exciting program it is for youth of all ages, both from an academic perspective, with its strong emphasis on math, science and technology, and, with respect to the great experiences Team Duct Tape has had with mentors in the community and how connecting at the community level opens up so many opportunities for youth, and such great experiences for mentors.