Gov. Charlie Baker and FIRST co-founder Woodie Flowers each visited the LigerBots at the FIRST Qualifying Competition held at Boston University’s Agganis Arena this weekend, where the team ranked 5th out of 40 teams (10-5-0 record) and reached the quarter-finals as the first pick of the third-seeded alliance.   The LigerBots also won the event’s Innovation in Control award, sponsored by Rockwell Automation to celebrate “an innovative control system or application of control components – electrical, mechanical, or software – to provide unique machine functions.”

The Governor spoke to the crowd about the importance of what FIRST offers, including experiential education and learning from failure.  He later visited the LigerBots pit and learned about the robot’s function and performance, as well as the LigerBots’ success in fundraising.

Mr. Flowers spoke with the team about the core FIRST values of “Gracious Professionalism” and “Coopertition,” which he instigated for FIRST, and he congratulated the LigerBots for outstanding efforts in these important areas.