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IEEE and the First Lego League (FLL) share many important goals. It would make sense that they should consider working together, particularly in the New York Capital District area. The technical activities involved in programming an autonomous robot are clearly within the purview and expertise of the IEEE. The overarching purpose of the FLL is to promote interest in engineering among our next generation of students, including grade school students.
The main purpose of this message is to request help from IEEE members for the Capital Districts’ first ever FIRST Lego League Tournament to be held later this year. We need judges, volunteers, and mentors. If you enjoy working with kids, and want to get them excited about engineering, then you can definitely have an impact by helping with this project. We are firmly committed to instituting an ongoing FLL program and ultimately a FIRST competition in our local area.
Given the shortage and lack of interest in science and engineering in the United States, the results from FLL have been encouraging. The number of FLL teams has grown from 200 teams in the U.S. in 1998 to 5,859 teams in 20 countries in 2004. In a 2004 evaluation of FLL, Brandeis University[1] found: (1) 97% of the participants reported an increased knowledge of the application of school subjects to solving real-world problems (2) 94% of coaches reported an increase in students’ understanding of how science and technology can be used to solve problems (3) 88% of the participants wanted to learn more about computers, science, and technology (4) 77% of the participants expressed an interest in pursuing a science and technology related job.
You can start a team, ideally through your
child’s school. Each team is comprised of youngsters, age 9–14, with
an adult coach. A challenge is announced in September and then
tournaments are held throughout the world.
More details can be found at www.FirstLegoLeague.org,
including other teams and their scores. There were more than 4,000 teams
in 2004 and more than 160 teams in NYC in 2004. FIRST has hosted the
FIRST LEGO League NO LIMITS World Festival in conjunction with the FIRST
Robotics Competition Championship in Atlanta, Georgia at the Georgia
Dome and Georgia World Congress Center, April 21-23, 2005.
Team registration began on May 1st, so now is an ideal time to get your team started before the challenge is revealed in September!
Author contact info:
Dr. Stephen F. Bush
GE Global Research
http://www.research.ge.com/~bushsf
(halstead@ieee.org)
