Applied Physics Institute and the Cyber Defense Lab continued their sponsorship this year for the Kentucky FIRST LEGO League.
The competition was held at WKU’s Diddle Arena on Jan. 9, 2009. This year 330 Kentucky students on 41 different teams ranging
in ages from 9 to 14 years-old applied creativity and science to the tournament challenge: climate.
Teams were challenged to research and present about the topic showing their own creative solutions to one of today’s most critical
environmental issues. This allowed them to demonstrate problem-solving skills, creative thinking, teamwork, competitive play, sportsmanship
and sense of community.
The competition is judged on project presentation, robot performance, technical design and programming of the robot, and teamwork.
The highest honorary award goes to the team that exemplifies the spirit and values of the FIRST LEGO League. This year that award
went to the “Bubble Gum” team from Campbell County Middle School.
The “Bubble Gum” team will compete in the FIRST LEGO League World Festival in Atlanta, Ga., at the Georgia Dome and Georgia World
Congress Center on Apr. 16, 2009. The second place team the “C.Y.B.O.R.G.S.” from Mount Washington, Ky., who was the last year's FIRST LEGO
League champion. The “C.Y.B.O.R.G.S.” will compete on May 7, 2009, at the FIRST LEGO League U.S. Open Championship in Ohio.
"Applied Physics Institute and the Cyber Defense Lab want to continue their sponsorship of the LEGO competition to stimulate interest
in programming and computers,” stated Dr. Womble. “We hope to some day reap the reward by hiring these students as computer scientists
and analysts."
Other sponsors of this year’s event at WKU included The Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, College of
Education and Behavioral Sciences, Ogden College of Science and Engineering, the Provost’s Initiative of Excellence Grant, and various
organizations within Ogden College.
• Team "Bubble Gum"
• KY FIRST LEGO Competition
For further information, contact Katie Moore at 270-781-3859 or katie.moore@wku.edu.
