FIRST was founded in 1989 by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen, with inspiration and assistance from physicist and MIT professor Woodie Flowers. Dean Kamen founded the organization in an effort to increase the number of women and minorities found in FIRST. The first FIRST Robotics Competition had only 28 teams participating in a New Hampshire gymnasium. Since then, FIRST Robotics Competition has spread to 3,128 teams, with about 75,000 students from 24 different countries.
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