Purdue Fort Wayne celebrating 25th year with FIRST LEGO League

Purdue University Fort Wayne will celebrate its 25th year of involvement with the FIRST LEGO League by hosting the Northern Indiana Semi-State Tournament on Dec. 14 in the Lutheran Health Fieldhouse at Gates Sports Center. There will be 48 teams of students ages 9-14 hoping to advance to the Jan. 11 state finals in Speedway. Including judges, referees, and more than 100 volunteers, there will be approximately 2,000 people participating from the opening ceremonies at 8:30 a.m. until the awards ceremony, which starts at 6 p.m.

Created through a partnership between FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and the LEGO Group, the FIRST LEGO League has grown to include over 29,000 teams in 80 countries. The program aims to inspire young minds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, while fostering valuable life and career skills.

The first Indiana state championship was hosted by PFW’s College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science in December 2000.

This year’s theme, “Submerged,” invites teams to dive deep into the layers of the ocean to explore challenges related to architecture, sustainability, and infrastructure. Teams will design and build autonomous LEGO robots to navigate complex challenges. They are judged on their innovative city proposals, robot design, and the collaborative efforts that went into creating their solutions. Teams are guided by volunteer coaches, typically educators, engineers, or tech professionals. More than 60 volunteer professionals from PFW and the Fort Wayne community as well as 80 ETCS students will assist in the event.

Spectator admission is free, though some events are limited to judges and participants. The robot games are open to the public and start at 10 a.m.

For additional information, contact Blake Sebring at [email protected] or 260-385-0092 (mobile