ALA's FIRST for kids.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The Association for Laboratory Automation (ALA) is a worldwide organization representing leaders in all aspects of laboratory automation. It is pleased to announce a $100,000 donation to For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) to support young scientists and engineers around the world.

FIRST was founded in 1989 by renowned inventor Dean Kamen. FIRST's mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders. Combining the excitement of sport with science and technology, FIRST hosts robotics competitions that will reach more than 150,000 young scientists worldwide and engage more than 60,000 scientists, engineers, and other professionals as teachers, mentors, and judges in 2008.

"Our partnerships with innovative, leading scientific societies and sponsors such as ALA are a major reason that FIRST continues to thrive," said Dean Kamen, FIRST founder and president of DEKA Research and Development Corporation. "Once again, through ALA, the global scientific community has come through for kids interested in science around the world."

According to ALA president Reinhold Schafer, supporting FIRST simply reflects ALA's mission to educate scientists and engineers of all ages across all geographical boundaries. ALA seeks to provide a greater understanding of the importance and value of automation technologies in laboratory settings, to advance science and promote education related to laboratory automation by encouraging the study, advancing the science and improving the practice of laboratory automation across industries such as drug discovery and development, clinical diagnostics, food and agriculture, forensics and securities, energy, commodity chemicals and polymers among others.

Association for Laboratory Automation