New York City Students and Their Robots Get Energy Smart With 'Power Puzzle' Challenge

New York City Students and Their Robots Get Energy Smart With 'Power Puzzle'
Challenge

80 teams of area middle-school students apply creativity and science to energy
management and conservation in the 2007 FIRST LEGO League season

NEW YORK, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- FIRST (For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization founded by inventor
Dean Kamen to inspire young people's interest and participation in science and
technology, brings its biggest-ever annual FIRST LEGO League (FLL) season to
New York City with the 2007 Power Puzzle Challenge.

This year's Challenge calls for teams of 9 to 14 year-old children to research
and present their own creative solutions to one of today's most critical
environmental issues: energy management and conservation. This weekend, at
Riverbank State Park, eight weeks of research and design will culminate in the
New York City FLL Championship where 80 teams of children and mentors will
demonstrate their problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork,
competitive play, sportsmanship, and sense of community. These 80 teams
qualified from among nearly 200 registered teams to compete at the citywide
championship by their high performance qualifying tournaments held in each of
the five boroughs.

With missions exploring solar panels on houses, hydro-dams, wind turbines and
planting trees, teams will have to program their robots to find sustainable
options to meet our planet's growing energy needs in environmentally sound
ways.

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 and Challenge missions that are reflective of
today's real-world issues.

The FLL competition is judged in four areas: project presentation; robot
performance; technical design and programming of the robot; and teamwork. The
highest honor will go to the team that best exemplifies the spirit and values
of the program.

"The environment is a huge concern for everyone, including kids," said Dean
Kamen, FIRST founder. "Giving them a hands-on experience that allows them to
use their imaginations and creativity in combination with science and
technology to solve a real-world problem is empowering. It captures the true
spirit of FIRST LEGO League and unleashes the creative problem-solving skills
today's kids need for building a better tomorrow."

FLL is an international program for 9 to 14 year-old children (10 to 16
outside the U.S. and Canada) 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."

Currently in its tenth year, FIRST LEGO League anticipates its biggest season
ever, with more than 10,000 teams in 38 countries competing in hundreds of
qualifying events and Championship Tournaments. More than 100,000 students
will compete to win honors and recognition. Teams will also have the
opportunity to participate at the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, to be held
in conjunction with the FIRST Championship, April 17-19, 2008 at the Georgia
Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
This weekend's New York City Championship Tournament is being sponsored by The
David L. Klein Jr. Foundation, The Independence Community Foundation, Con
Edison, Verizon, and the Netherlands American Community Trust. Supporters
include Polytechnic University and H.O. Penn Machinery.
"FIRST LEGO League is a great opportunity to get kids engaged in the process
of technological innovation and to have the community come together to
celebrate their success," explains FIRST regional director Randy Schaeffer.
"That is the way you inspire kids to pursue further studies and careers in
science and technology."
For a list of the area schools and youth organizations with teams
participating in the Power Puzzle Challenge, please visit our Web site at:
http://nycnjfirst.org/nyc_fll_tournament.html

ABOUT FIRST
Accomplished inventor Dean Kamen founded FIRST (For Inspiration and
Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire an appreciation of
science and technology in young people. Based in Manchester, N.H., FIRST
designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge,
and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in
science, technology, and engineering. With the support of many of the world's
most well-known companies, the not-for-profit organization hosts the FIRST
Robotics Competition and FIRST Tech Challenge for high-school students, FIRST
LEGO League for children 9-14 years old, and Junior FIRST LEGO League for 6 to
9 year-olds. To learn more about FIRST, go to www.usfirst.org. To learn more
about the "Power Puzzle" Challenge, go to www.firstlegoleague.org.

ABOUT NEW YORK CITY/NEW JERSEY FIRST

New York City / New Jersey FIRST is a regional headquarters of the FIRST (For
Recognition and Inspiration in Science and Technology) student robotics
program and is based at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, New
Jersey.

The New York City /New Jersey FIRST regional program is growing, with 93 FIRST
Robotics teams, 240 FIRST LEGO League teams and the launch of the new FIRST
Tech Challenge underway. We also host a variety of team support activities
that foster and support the development of the FIRST Robotics, FIRST Tech
Challenge, and FIRST LEGO League teams.

The competitions, tournaments, programs and activities of FIRST in New York
City / New Jersey are made possible by the efforts of Planning Committees made
up of dedicated volunteers who want to make a difference in kids' lives. For
more information please visit our Web site at http://nycnjfirst.org.

ABOUT THE LEGO GROUP
LEGO Systems Inc. (LSI) is the Americas (North America and Latin America)
division of The LEGO Group, a privately-held firm based in Billund, Denmark.
The LEGO Group is committed to the development of children's creative and
imaginative abilities through high-quality, creatively educational play
materials, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by
founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: "Only the best is good enough." For more
information, visit www.LEGO.com.

LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of The LEGO Group.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Jeannie Hornung
(646) 460-9470
jeannie.hornung@gmail.com

SOURCE New York City / New Jersey FIRST

Jeannie Hornung of New York City / New Jersey FIRST, +1-646-460-9470,
jeannie.hornung@gmail.com