The FIRST Robotics Competition San Diego Regional presented by Qualcomm, held March 20-23, 2025, featured 51 teams and 1,500+ students from California with one team coming all the way from Chinese Taipei.
It was a celebration of innovation, recognition, and community highlighting not only the talent of our teams but also the incredible support behind them. Here’s a look at some of the standout moments from this milestone event:
- Official Recognition: We were honored with multiple state and county proclamations, including the declaration of Women in STEM Day and STEAM Robotics Day from California Assemblymember Carl DeMaio and Supervisor Joel Anderson’s office, plus a state certificate of recognition from California Assemblymember Darshana Patel.
- Qualcomm Innovation Grant: A $10,000 innovation grant from Qualcomm was awarded to three standout teams – The Holy Cows, SuperNURDs, and Overclocked.
- Alumni Event: FIRST alumni enjoyed bingo, cookies, and inspiring talks from professionals at Qualcomm and NAVWAR/NIWC, fostering connections and career insights.
- Women in STEM “Table Talk”: Eleven accomplished STEM professionals joined us to share their journeys, advice, and inspiration in a dynamic roundtable setting.
- Mentor Breakfast: A special moment to celebrate and support the mentors who guide and uplift their teams every step of the way.
- Double Honors for Ryan Griggs: Mentor of Team 2485 Overclocked, Ryan Griggs, received both the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award and was named Volunteer of the Year – a true embodiment of generosity, leadership and dedication.
- Qualcomm + FIRST Trivia Fun: Throughout the weekend, the audience stayed engaged with fun Qualcomm and FIRST trivia – and one lucky student even won a pair of Ray-Ban Meta glassses!
Thank you to everyone who made the San Diego Regional such a meaningful and memorable event. Here’s to 19 years of impact!
Thank you Ken Woo for these incredible photos!
Feel free to download and share any of these photos. You can tag FIRST California at @firstroboticscalifornia on Instagram and use hashtags #FIRSTinCA, #morethanrobots, #omgrobots, #REEFSCAPE and #FIRSTDIVE.
LIST OF TEAMS ADVANCING TO CHAMPIONSHIPS IN HOUSTON!!!
The following teams and individuals earned top honors at the San Diego Regional and earned their way to compete at the FIRST Championships in Houston, April 16-19, 2025.
FIRST Impact Award
The FIRST Impact Award is the most prestigious award at FIRST, it honors the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST.
The FIRST Impact Award is presented to the team judged to have the most significant measurable impact of its partnerships among its participants and community over a sustained period, not just a single build season. The winner is able to demonstrate progress towards FIRST’s mission of transforming our culture. The recipient team will be invited to a FIRST Championship where it will compete for the FIRST Impact Award against winners from other qualifying events.
To help bring STEM to more students, this team developed a new curriculum to meet their school time constraints. They focused on lowering the barrier to entry by teaching core robotics principles with a simplified bot. They expanded their tools and teachings to other school districts across grades K-12. Over a few short years, they’ve proactively started multiple FLL & FTC teams, and shared technical and financial know-how with fellow FRC competitors. Their name may be a game, but they make a serious impact.
- Team 8020, CyberpunK from Chinese Taipei
Engineering Inspiration
The Engineering Inspiration Award celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school or organization, and community. Inspiring others to respect science and technology requires passion, knowledge and commitment, and we recognize these qualities through this award. This team will advance to the Championships.
This team is ready for WAR. They – wait a minute, I need to tweak this script. Take two: this team went above and beyond to expand their local and global horizons. With their CADathons and curriculum integration with their school district, they clock in all year-round.
- Team 2485, Overclocked from San Diego, CA
Regional Winners Qualifying for Championship
- Team 1538, The Holy Cows from San Diego, CA
- Team 3255, SuperNURDs from Escondido, CA
The Dean’s List Finalist
In an effort to recognize the leadership and dedication of FIRST’s most outstanding FRC students, the Kamen family sponsors an award for selected top students known as the FIRST Dean’s List. This award celebrates a student’s outstanding leadership and effectiveness in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering and engineers, both within their school, as well as their community. FIRST Dean’s List Finalists will compete at the championship for the FIRST Dean’s List.
- Benjamin T, Team 9730, Metal Maniacs
- Simeon K, Team 2658, Σ-Motion
Woodie Flowers Finalist Award
FIRST stands apart from other competitions in STEM and sports due to the FIRST Ethos of Gracious Professionalism, the concept of Coopertition, and the commitment to the FIRST Core Values. The guiding force behind these principles was Dr. Woodie Flowers. Dr. William Murphy, Jr., who was instrumental in creating the concept of FIRST with Dean Kamen, recognized the unique perspective, wisdom, and communication style that Woodie brought to the FIRST Robotics Competition.
In honor of Woodie, Dr. Murphy founded the Woodie Flowers Award in 1996. He recognized that the FIRST ethos would be carried forward by our FIRST mentors and sought to celebrate those mentors who demonstrate the leadership, ethical behavior, and communication skills exemplified by Woodie. Woodie believed “societies get the best of what they celebrate”.
Being recognized by students, through nomination essays, makes this honor very meaningful to mentors. It is truly an honor for a mentor to be nominated for this award.
Many mentors have been impactful on their teams, often putting in long hours and encouraging everyone to achieve the best effort they can find. This mentor certainly fits this description. Not being content with working within their own team they encourage outreach and work with other FIRST programs and lead by example giving even more time as a key volunteer at events, including the ones hosted by the team. While many of us look for the magic that makes FIRST what it is, this mentor has created his own magic and shared this secret with his team.
- Ryan, Griggs, Team 2485, Overclocked
Additional Awards
Congratulations to the Teams and individuals that earned the remaining awards at the San Diego Regional! See the list here.