TechTaffy

tech:

taffy

Google, Boeing Chairmans Join FIRST Board

By TechTaffy Desk

[Techtaffy Newsdesk]

Eric Schmidt, executive chairman, Google, and W. James (Jim) McNerney, Jr., chairman, president and CEO, The Boeing Company, have been elected to the board of directors of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a not-for-profit organization founded by inventor Dean Kamen. FIRST currently serves nearly 300,000 youth worldwide through the commitment of over 100,000 adult Volunteers.

Google has provided funding for FIRST teams and FIRST Mentors since 2006. Google’s support has grown significantly, including funding regional robotics events, and providing a significant $3 million grant to fund the FIRST Green e-watt saver, a program where FIRST students raise funds to help support their teams by selling energy-efficient LED light bulbs.

Boeing has supported FIRST since 2001, including a recent multi-million dollar grant extending over four years. Over the years, Boeing has provided FIRST scholarships, and many employees have volunteered as mentors to guide students through building a robot. This year, Boeing supported nearly 200 teams that participated in robotics competitions across the country. Boeing also sponsored the FIRST Finale at the annual Championship in St. Louis, Mo.

The FIRST Founder’s Award is presented annually for exceptional service in advancing the ideals and mission of FIRST; Google received the award in 2012 and Boeing received the award in 2011.

In the 2011/2012 season, FIRST had more than 22,000 robotics teams across the globe.

Just in

Series A

Tembo raises $14M

Cincinnati, Ohio-based Tembo, a Postgres managed service provider, has raised $14 million in a Series A funding round.
Around the web

Raspberry Pi is now a public company — TC

Raspberry Pi priced its IPO on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning at £2.80 per share, valuing it at £542 million, or $690 million at today’s exchange rate, writes Romain Dillet. 
Fundings

AlphaSense raises $650M

AlphaSense, a market intelligence and search platform, has raised $650 million in funding, co-led by Viking Global Investors and BDT & MSD Partners.
Around the web

Elon Musk’s xAI raises $6B to take on OpenAI — VentureBeat

Confirming reports from April, the series B investment comes from the participation of multiple known venture capital firms and investors, including Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Andreessen Horowitz (A16z), Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Kingdom Holding, writes Shubham Sharma. 
IT

Capgemini partners with DARPA to explore quantum computing for carbon capture

Capgemini Government Solutions has launched a new initiative with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to investigate quantum computing's potential in carbon capture.