Like a sporting event, the human referees are easy to spot in their black- and white-striped shirts. The human competitors are the epitome of youthful exuberance. Loud, thumping music - the kind that normally prompts parents to order their children to turn that noise down -- blares from the public address system.

But the parents in the stands don't object. They are among the spectators, and they're pumped up -- cheering and screaming encouragement for their favorite teams. The activity on the field of play is provided by robots, but the cheers are directed at their high school-aged creators.

That's your typical FIRST Robotics Competition. This high-tech challenge draws on the knowledge and application of scientific and mathematic principals.

Not Your Typical Science Fair
"That ain't no science fair!" The error of the double negative notwithstanding, this statement is both completely accurate and miles from the truth.

"Xerox's involvement gives students a glimpse of what happens in today's workplace," said Jeff Huspen, a model maker in Xerox manufacturing and experimental machine builder. Jeff volunteers as a mentor for the X-Cats, a Xerox-sponsored FIRST team at the Wilson Commencement Academy in Rochester, N.Y. Like all teams around the world, the X-Cats received a standard kit of parts and they had six weeks to design and build a robot.

They are given an aggressive deadline, which might not be so dire if the kit came with instructions. It doesn't. Competition rules? Yes. A description of what the robot should be able to do? Yes. Size and weight specifications? Yes. About a thousand different solutions that could solve the same problem but you must choose only one? You bet! Xerox people who work in product development have a name for this kind of challenge: A typical day at work.

One result of FIRST: The students get a realistic look at how to deal with severe constraints on time, performance, cost, materials, and more. After all, that's how robots - and printers - get built in the real world.

"The students appreciate the tradeoffs they must make, and that helps them no matter what field they go into," said Eric Anderson, an Office Group software design engineer in Wilsonville, Ore.

The teens learn and they find inspiration by doing, and for that you can thank mentors like Eric and Jeff. The students also find inspiration from industry experts like Apple Computer founder Steve Wozniak. A judge at the regional FIRST competition in Las Vegas, Wozniak spoke one-on-one with the members of the Wilsonville team for an hour. For that kind of face time, most engineers would give their eye teeth.

"People were amazed by this machine," Eric said. "The students stopped seeing their robot as a toy because it became something impressive."

Invaluable Support from Xerox
The Wilsonville team faced a crisis after their performance in Las Vegas. They qualified for the national championship in Atlanta, but they did not have enough money for the trip. Xerox's support of the team amounted to $5,000 per year -- so the company bumped up the support by an additional $10,000 in order to make the trip to nationals possible.

FIRST mentor Ben Stoner, an Office Group sheet metal specialist in Wilsonville, says Xerox's actions speak even louder. He believes that access to Xerox's machine shop and conference rooms has been very helpful to the team. So is the ability to recruit Xerox people for help.

"I saw the potential to offer students something I didn't have in high school," Ben said. "This is something that I can do to make a difference in the world."

What Is FIRST?
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) engages high school students in subjects such as science, math, engineering and technology with fun activities and competitions.

More information is available at www.usfirst.org.

Xerox Sponsors Seven FIRST Teams
Here are the FIRST teams that received support from Xerox this year:

• Cougar Tech -- Honeoye-Falls Lima high schools, Honeoye Falls, N.Y
  
• Eagles -- El Segundo High School, El Segundo, Calif.
  
• Eagle Engineering -- Chaminade College Prep, West Hills, Calif.
  
• Wilsonville Robotics -- Wilsonville (Ore.) High School
  
• Sparx -- Webster (N.Y.) High School
  
• X-Cats -- Wilson Commencement Academy, Rochester, N.Y.
  
• XQ Robotix -- Franklin High School, Rochester, N.Y.