Depends on the database you are using.
Look up
string functions to convert to upper case, and use that. I think in Oracle, it's TO_UPPER. So you would convert your search term to upper case, then execute
SELECT * FROM Person
WHERE TO_UPPER( first_name) = 'BOB'
Of course, a better way to do this is to use a PreparedStatement.
PreparedStatement psFindBob = getConnection().prepareStatement(
"SELECT * FROM Person"
+ " WHERE TO_UPPER( first_name) = ?
);
psFindBob.setString( sBob.toUpperCase());
ResultSet rsFindBob = psFindBob.executeQuery();
...
PreparedStatement will perform better if you do this same query several times. It will also handle searching for names like O'Leary (embedded quotes or SQL reserved words).