Celebrity Engineer Grant Imahara to Attend

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mouser Electronics, Inc. today announced that for the fifth straight year it will be a key sponsor of the FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Championship, set for this week, April 27 - 30 at The Dome at Americas Center in St. Louis.

Mouser is excited to repeat its sponsorship of the Hall of Fame exhibit at the championship event with valued suppliers TE Connectivity and Murata. Making appearances with Mouser will be celebrity engineer and Empowering Innovation Together™ partner Grant Imahara. To view a YouTube video with Mouser and Grant Imahara at the 2015 FIRST Championship, visit https://youtu.be/4SDk3Pc4eLc.

The mission of FIRST is to inspire young people to be leaders in science and technology through exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills. FIRST programs inspire innovation and foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

"Since our founding more than 50 years ago, we have been dedicated to inspiring young people's interest in science and technology, and we are proud to once again sponsor a program that supports the brightest young minds and future engineers," said Kevin Hess, Mousers Senior Vice President of Marketing. "The FIRST Championship shines the spotlight on creative students from the U.S. and around the world who are solving real-world engineering challenges with their robots."

The FIRST Robotics Competition Hall of Fame exhibit at the FIRST Championship — sponsored by Mouser, TE Connectivity and Murata — highlights the past recipients of the Chairmans Award, the highest honor awarded in FIRST Robotics competitions. Instead of awarding the Chairmans Award to the team that earns the most points in the competition, FIRST honors the team that best exemplifies the goals and values of FIRST.

Mouser also donates electronic components to FIRST students through a partnership with the Electronic Components Industry Association (ECIA). Each FIRST Robotics Competition team receives a kit of parts, including motors, batteries, a control system, a PC and a mix of automation components — with no instructions. Teams have six weeks to transform their kits into working robots designed to perform specific tasks.

Mouser will also have representatives at the new Innovation Faire exhibition area. At the Innovation Faire, Mouser will feature its unique capabilities as the new product introduction (NPI) distributor offering the newest products and advanced technologies from over 500 manufacturers.

Through the support of companies like Mouser, kits were supplied to more than 2,500 teams around the nation last year. Mouser was a major sponsor of the Dallas Regional on March 23 - 26 at the Irving (Texas) Convention Center, with 44 teams from Texas, Arkansas, South Carolina, Mexico, Brazil and China. The top 400 teams from the regional competitions advance to the championship in St. Louis. To learn more about how Mouser supports FIRST Robotics Competition, visit http://www.mouser.com/first/.

With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser caters to design engineers and buyers by delivering Whats Next in advanced technologies. Mouser offers customers 22 global support locations and stocks the worlds widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics website is updated many times daily and searches more than 10 million products to locate over 4 million orderable part numbers available for easy online purchase. Mouser.com also houses an industry-first interactive catalog, data sheets, supplier-specific reference designs, application notes, technical design information, and engineering tools.

About Mouser Electronics

Mouser Electronics, a subsidiary of TTI, Inc., is part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway family of companies. Mouser is an award-winning, authorized semiconductor and electronic component distributor, focused on the rapid introduction of new products and technologies to electronic design engineers and buyers. Mouser.com features more than 4 million products online from more than 500 manufacturers. Mouser publishes multiple catalogs per year providing designers with up-to-date data on the components now available for the next generation of electronic devices. Mouser ships globally to over 500,000 customers in 170 countries from its 492,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art facility south of Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit http://www.mouser.com.