Troy, N.Y. — Sixteen middle school teams from around the Capital Region competed today in the FIRST LEGO® League (FLL) Ocean Odyssey Challenge at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The global competition was brought to the region for the first time through a partnership between GE and Rensselaer, and was supported by nearly 100 GE Volunteers and Rensselaer students, faculty, and staff. The tournament put eight weeks of research, design, and programming to the test, giving local students the chance to participate at the FLL World Festival at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Area children, ages 9 to 14, are among the record 63,000 students around the world who have risen to the 2005 FLL Ocean Odyssey Challenge to help solve mounting problems in the world’s oceans. To successfully complete the Ocean Odyssey Challenge, teams of young people must build and program a LEGO MINDSTORMS™ robot that addresses the study and protection of the health, biodiversity, and productivity of the oceans. Challenge missions include, among others, preventing pollution, responsible fishing, releasing a dolphin, and locating sunken treasure.

FLL is a partnership between the LEGO Group and FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which was founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology. FLL is the middle school component of the FIRST Robotics Competition, an international contest that teams professionals and young people to solve an engineering design problem in a competitive way. Kamen visited Rensselaer Dec. 1 to meet with area students involved in FIRST competitions and to deliver a lecture on innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Every FLL challenge helps students discover how imagination and creativity combined with science and technology can solve real-world problems,” Kamen says. The FLL competition is judged in five areas: research and presentation; robot performance; technical mechanics of the robot’s construction; teamwork; and gracious professionalism. The highest honor will go to the team that best exemplifies the spirit and values of the program.

Today’s event began with welcoming remarks by Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson, a national leader in the effort to expand the science and engineering workforce; Nancy Martin, Manager of Technology Leadership Development at GE Global Research; and Rensselaer Trustee Jeffrey Kodosky ’70, who holds numerous patents as principal inventor of the technology in the award-winning graphical development software LabVIEW, which powers the LEGO ROBOLAB programming environment. Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian was also on hand for the kickoff ceremonies.

“Rensselaer co-hosts this competition for some very important reasons,” President Jackson told the young people, their guests, the volunteers, and others gathered for the competition. “Science, engineering, mathematics, and technology are the fields which change our world, bringing us innovations and discoveries which make us comfortable, safe, healthy, and happy. Our expertise in these fields has given the United States a thriving economy, and has made us global leaders. This competition is important because the things which you find interesting and exciting now, often become the things which sustain your interest and study in the future — as you learn them, master them, and, then, move beyond their limits into the unknown — doing your own research, and making your own discoveries, inventions, and innovations.”

The tournament was organized by GE Volunteers and by Rensselaer’s Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education (CIPCE), which works with area teachers and students to promote the use of robotics in the classroom.

“GE is proud to sponsor the first-ever FLL Tournament in the Capital Region,” says Nancy Martin, Manager of Technology Leadership Development at GE Global Research. “The competition brings visibility to real-world issues, and shows students how science and technology can contribute to a solution. Our business relies on innovative scientists and engineers who are dedicated to solving some of the world’s biggest problems, and we believe FLL is an excellent way to not only inspire kids, but also to develop a base of future technology professionals.”

“The nation’s best research universities can and must play a significant role in strengthening mathematics, science, and engineering education at the pre-college level,” says Lester Rubenfeld, CIPCE director and professor of mathematical sciences at Rensselaer. “By hosting robotics competitions, assisting teachers, and mentoring students, we can be part of the solution to this critical national challenge. I am so proud of our students who are volunteering their time to show the next generation how much fun math, science, and engineering can be.”

FLL’s seventh year is also its biggest season, with close to 7,700 teams — more than 63,000 students — from 30 countries competing in hundreds of qualifying events and tournaments.  Regional winners will have a chance to participate at the FIRST LEGO League World Festival, to be held in conjunction with the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship for high-school students, April 27-29, 2006 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.

Note to editors: Tournament results will be posted at www.cipce.rpi.edu/go/ocean_odyssey .

Contact: Jason Gorss
Phone: (518) 276-6098
E-mail: gorssj@rpi.edu