My older daughter visited me over Thanksgiving holidays. She is a woman of many talents, including being a very good computer programmer with interests in a number of different fields. She is particularly interested in computer games and in the roles of robotics in education.

For a number of years she has worked as a volunteer in helping teams of precollege students build robots that they then use in robotics competitions. While continuing to participate as a volunteer at this individual team level, she has also risen to the level of being a (volunteer) judge at regional and national contests.

Here are some data that may rock your socks. It is from the FIRST (ROBOTICS PROGRAM) website at http://www.usfirst.org/aboutus/content.aspx?id=160. The name FIRST is an acronym: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology.