Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) was the lead sponsor of the Virginia First Tech Challenge (FTC) Championship Tournament, a robotics competition, which took place on Feb. 27 at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

For the competition, teams of middle and high school students, through various fundraising efforts and sponsorships, built and programmed robots from kits. Employees from Northrop Grumman’s Naval and Marine Systems Division in Charlottesville volunteered to help organize, referee and judge the competition, in which the teams made their robots perform and compete at various tasks.

Northrop Grumman engineering and manufacturing program manager Ernie Inzana presented the Inspire Award, the most prestigious FTC honor, to team 93, “Blue Cheese Jr.,” from Deep Run High School in Glen Allen, Va. This award is given to the team that truly embodies the “challenge” of the FTC program, and is chosen by the judges as having best represented a role-model FTC team. The winning team is a top contender for all other judging categories; is a strong competitor on the field; and automatically advances to the upcoming world championship tournament finals in Atlanta, Ga.

“Northrop Grumman places a high value on community involvement, and has participated in the FTC for three seasons now,” said Inzana. “This competition is a great way for the company to foster future leaders by bringing the spirit of engineering to the community.”

The company used its latest interactive demonstration kiosk technology with special animation displays to help present information and inspire the student competitors.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.