Student Robotics Teams Excel at Mainland Competition
The Hawai`i State FIRST LEGO League (FLL) champions, the `Iolani Roboraiders, recently returned from Dayton, Ohio, where they put their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills to the test against 60 teams at the FLL U.S. Open Championship Tournament at Wright State University.
The `Iolani Roboraiders.
The Roboraiders were members of the winning alliance team and also were recipients of the third place award for Robot Quality Design.
In addition to the two-day competition, the 12 students on the `Iolani team also participated in a tour of the National Museum of the Air Force, as well as team exchanges with students from across the nation.
FIRST LEGO League is one of six robotics programs in the ROC (Robotics Organizing Committee), which is active in Hawai`i's public, private and charter schools, at the elementary through high school levels. The other five programs include: FIRST Robotics, Botball, VEX, Underwater ROV and Micro Robotics. Each program is designed to engage students of a particular age and interest.
Robotics is a critical component of the Lingle-Aiona Administration's Hawai`i Innovation Initiative because it engages students in STEM education and fosters students' teamwork, communication, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will better prepare them to enter the workforce, regardless of what career they choose.
