WALTHAM, Mass., April 15, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Eight teams sponsored by Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) are competing in the FIRST Robotics Championship Event April 15-17, 2010, in Atlanta, Ga. In addition, Raytheon will award $1,000 scholarships to 40 Raytheon-sponsored team members who plan to pursue college degrees in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM).

The FIRST Robotics Championship challenges students to design and build their own robots from a standard kit of parts. This year's event takes place in Atlanta's Georgia Dome, where 500 robots will compete on six fields.

The competition and Raytheon's support of the program are intended to inspire students to pursue education and career paths in STEM disciplines. Raytheon sponsored 36 FIRST Robotics teams in 2010 from Alabama, California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Virginia. Raytheon engineers mentored students on those teams to design and build their robots in just six weeks to compete in local and regional competitions. More than 45,000 high school students from 12 countries participated in this year's international competition.

Ten thousand students from the winning regional teams have advanced to the championship. Among those competing in the finals are eight sponsored by Raytheon: Culvert City High School of Culvert City, Calif.; Dos Pueblos High School of Goleta, Calif.; Hope Chapel Academy of Hermosa Beach, Calif.; Foshay Learning Center of Los Angeles, Calif.; Tewksbury Memorial High School of Tewksbury, Mass.; Dulaney High School of Timonium, Md.; La Salle Academy of Providence, R.I.; and Robotic 4-H Club of Newport County, R.I.

"Raytheon and our employees play an important role in developing the next generation of engineers, scientists and technologists in our country, and we know that those leaders will need strong math and science backgrounds to solve the complex problems we face," said Mark E. Russell, Raytheon Company vice president of Engineering. "FIRST Robotics helps students get involved and excited about math and science."

Raytheon's support of FIRST is a component of its MathMovesU®   program, an initiative designed to engage middle school students in math and science and help create the next generation of innovators for the United States. Since the program's 2005 launch, it has touched the lives of more than 1 million students, teachers and parents nationwide.

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN), with 2009 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 88 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 75,000 people worldwide.

SOURCE Raytheon Company