The Future Innovators Academy

09/26/2026

Our FTC teams are at the Maker Works Open House today!

Come take a tour, explore everything Maker Works has to offer, and stop by to say hi to our Future Innovators Academy FTC teams!

Our students are using today as an opportunity to practice an important part of competitive robotics that goes beyond building and programming: presenting their work, explaining their engineering decisions, answering technical questions, and communicating with the community.

We’d love to have you stop by, meet the teams, ask them about their robots, and give them a chance to practice those presentation and technical speaking skills!

Maker Works holds a special place in FIA’s story, too — The Future Innovators Academy was originally founded and operated out of Maker Works! We’re always excited to come back and support this incredible local maker community.

Learn more about the Open House:
https://www.maker-works.com/openhouse

09/21/2026

🤖 We’re heading back to where it all began!

This Saturday, FIA’s FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) competition robotics teams will be at the Maker Works 15th Anniversary Open House!

Maker Works holds a pretty special place in FIA’s story. The Future Innovators Academy was first founded and operated out of Maker Works, and we’re incredibly excited to return with some of our robotics students and teams.

Come meet our FTC students, check out their robots, learn more about competitive robotics, and say hello to the FIA crew!

While you’re there, take some time to explore Maker Works. It’s an incredible nonprofit makerspace right here in Ann Arbor, with tools and spaces for everything from electronics and metalworking to woodworking, textiles, lasers, and more.

📍 Maker Works — 3765 Plaza Drive, Ann Arbor
📅 Saturday, September 26
⏰ 10:00 AM–2:00 PM
🎟️ Free & open to all!

Come support an amazing local organization, celebrate 15 years of making, and see what our FTC teams have been working on!

🔧 Learn more about Maker Works:
https://www.maker-works.com/

🤖 Learn more about FIA’s FTC Robotics program:
https://www.ftcatfia.org/

We hope to see you there!

Step inside Maker Works and see what 15 years of making looks like. 🛠️

Explore the space, catch live tool demos, check out new equipment, and learn how Maker Works helps turn ideas into something real.

📆 September 26 | 10 AM–2 PM
💥 a2Tech360 Partner Event

Learn more + register 👇
https://a2spark.org/MW26

09/21/2026

Did you happen to spot the FIA team around Ann Arbor today? 👀

We spent the day making our way around town, visiting local businesses and hanging flyers all over the Ann Arbor community.

But there’s one face you’ll REALLY want to keep an eye out for…

🤖 KEVIN.

Our resident FIA robot has been sneaking his way around Ann Arbor, and if you happen to find him, there might just be something in it for you.

Keep your eyes peeled around town.

Find Kevin. Scan the QR code. Claim your reward.

And if you spotted one of us out in the wild today hanging flyers… say hi in the comments! 😄

09/17/2026

🚨 WE MADE THE TOP 6! 🚨

We are ecstatic to share that The Future Innovators Academy has made it into the TOP 6!

Now we need your help! Please take a moment to vote for The Future Innovators Academy and help us make it to the top!

Voting closes October 15, so cast your vote today — and please share with your friends and family!

Every vote means so much to our small business and our FIA community. Thank you for supporting what we’re building!

👇 Vote for The Future Innovators Academy:

Check it out now!

09/17/2026

🚨 HUGE NEWS! 🚨

We’re incredibly excited to see a brand-new FIRST® Robotics Competition opportunity taking shape at FIA!

🤖 Royal Fusion — FRC Team 12122 — is officially forming for the 2027 season!

This is an exciting next step for students ready to take their robotics experience further through engineering, programming, design, teamwork, and real-world competition.

Interested students and families can learn more and follow the team through the original post below.

We can’t wait to see where Royal Fusion goes from here!

👑 Meet Royal Fusion.

We’re excited to introduce Royal Fusion, FRC Team 12122, a new competitive community FIRST Robotics Competition team bringing together students from across Washtenaw County.

We’re building a team for students who want to design, build, program, strategize, create, and compete together. Whether you have years of FIRST experience or are completely new to robotics, we’re looking for students who are ready to learn, contribute, and be part of building something new.

Interested in Royal Fusion for the 2027 season?

Fill out our Student Interest Form to learn more:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScwVgosTZC32KoEs_2ylFIDs-Qzy0d6DEy7wG7euJLrNYMP9w/viewform?usp=header

Follow along as we build Team 12122 from the ground up.

United by Design.

09/14/2026

Last call for FALL 10wk skill courses. If your child is curious about coding, robotics, electronics, or making - enroll this week.

09/12/2026

The wait is over! FIRST Tech Challenge just revealed this season’s game TODAY!

Check out the official game reveal here:
https://youtu.be/sUH3z5a5S9I?si=ZWq3T-I0kliSvI03

And the timing couldn’t be better—our FTC: Competition Ready class kicks off this Monday!

Designed for 4th–7th graders who are ready to take the next step in robotics, students will work together to build, program, test, troubleshoot, and learn what it takes to prepare a robot for FTC-style competition.

FTC: Competition Ready
Grades 4–7
Mondays | 5:30 PM
September 14 – November 16

We still have a few spots available!

Register here:
https://www.hisawyer.com/the-future-innovators-academy/schedules/activity-set/1949985

Watch the 2026-2027 game animation to see how your team will amplif...