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January 14, 2008

LONG ISLAND TEAMS RECEIVE NUMEROUS AWARDS AT SBPLI – LI FIRST LEGO LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT

More than 500 Area Elementary and Middle School Students Apply Creativity
and Science to Energy Management and Conservation Using LEGOs

(Melville, New York) – Following eight weeks of research and design, 49 teams from elementary and middle schools across Long Island demonstrated their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play and sportsmanship at this year’s SBPLI – LI FIRST LEGO League Tournament that took place on Sunday, January 13 at Longwood High School in Middle Island. This year marked the fourth year of the tournament on Long Island.

This year, FIRST collaborated with organizations including the Gulf Coast Combined Heat and Power Application Center, the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of South Carolina and the Second Hill Group, an independent consultant that specializes in issues including energy, environment and green design, to create a theme that challenged students to find sustainable options to meet our planet’s growing energy needs in environmentally sound ways.

The following teams received these awards:

Champion's Award: Team 7105 - Team Elite 1337 - Massapequa

Robot Design Award:
1st Place: Team 2471 - Robophantoms - Bayport/Blue Point
2nd Place: Team 451 - Rice Krispies - Southold

Programming Award:
1st Place: Team 438 - BetaPobots - Plainview/Old Bethpage
2nd Place: Team 2975 - Stonybots - Stony Brook

Research Quality Award: Team 2069 - Salk Robohawks - Levittown

Innovative Solution Award: Team 3842 - SPBoyled Bots - Port Jefferson Station

Creative Presentation Award: Team 347 - LEGO Lions - Middle Island

Robot Performance Award:
1st Place: Team 2572 - LEGO Chicks - Hicksville (GSNC)
2nd Place: Team 2975 - Stony Bots - Stony Brook

Teamwork Award:
1st Place: Team 6038 - Power Panthers - Miller Place
2nd Place: Team 5693 - G'PO Geniuses - Greenport

Rising Star Award: Team 263 - Chirobots - Riverhead

Judge's Award: Team 21 - Stobognoc - Port Washington

Team Spirit Award: Team 2572 - LEGO Chicks - Hicksville (GSNC)

Founded by inventor Dean Kamen, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was created to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. First LEGO League is an international program for 9 to 14 year-old children created in a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998 based on their common belief that fun and learning go hand-in-hand, and that an inspired mind can accomplish anything. Each September, FIRST LEGO League announces the annual Challenge to teams, engaging them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design. Using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technologies and LEGO play materials, children work alongside adult mentors to design, build, and program robots to complete missions based on real-world challenges. After eight intense weeks, the competition season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments.

"FIRST LEGO League so brilliantly captures the natural curiosity and creativity of youth, and combines it with real-world issues and research and teamwork activities that put children in a position of identifying and creating innovative solutions to big problems," said Jens Maibom, vice president, LEGO Group. "In this manner, FIRST LEGO League inspires children around the world to realize the power of their creative thinking skills in making a real difference, which naturally makes them feel good and motivates them to continue learning by doing."

This weekend's Long Island Championship Tournament was sponsored by School Business Partnerships of L.I. Fred Breithut, founder and chairman of School-Business Partnership of Long Island said: "We are pleased to coordinate the Long Island FIRST LEGO League Tournament. It is an extension of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Together these programs are opening a world of technology, science, and engineering to so many Long Island students, helping to build our high tech workforce of the future."

For more information about the School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, the 2007-2008 FIRST LEGO League Competition and the 2008 Long Island Regional FIRST Robotics Competition, contact (631) 692-2962 or visit www.sbpli-lifirst.org.

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