<p>The Robotics Institute of Maine will be launched this Thursday amid great fanfare, with a dozen disc-tossing robots on the lawn of Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland, along with expected appearances by Gov. Paul LePage, Segway inventor Dean Kamen and new RIM director Jamee Luce.</p><p>RIM will formalize the two sets of robotics competitions that have been running in Maine, the FIRST and VEX competitions, both for high school students. It will help manage and distribute the $100,000 in funding Fairchild has given the competitions. The robot games include teams that build robots that can hit targets with flying discs and balls and even complete mazes.</p><p>"We want to inspire kids to become engineers," Jamee Luce, new director of RIM and its only employee, told Mainebiz. She has coached robotics competitions for six years.</p><p>RIM, based at the Manufacturers Association of Maine in Westbrook, will provide resources and guidance to teams across the state that want to compete, as well as access to funding, coaching and support for competitions. A separate organization, Maine Robotics, holds similar competitions for younger students. Fairchild also will provide another $75,000 over the next two years to fund the institute, Luce says.</p><p><a href="http://www.mainebiz.biz/article/20130625/NEWS0101/130629971">Keep reading...</a></p>