Winners announced for 19th Indiana FIRST® LEGO® League Robotic Championship

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—Purdue University Fort Wayne hosted the 19th Indiana FIRST® LEGO® League Robotic Championship on Saturday, December 8, in the Athletics Center Fieldhouse.

The theme of this year’s competition was Into Orbit, which challenges teams to solve problems associated with long-duration space travel.

Team In Situ from Granger, Indiana, was crowned champion and moves on to the World Festival in Detroit in April. Team Heronauts, also from Granger, took second place as the runner-up team and they move on to the Razorback Invitational in Arkansas in May.

This annual event is one of the largest robotic competitions in the state for children ages 9–14. This year, 296 Indiana teams registered, with 276 of them competing at 15 qualifiers in November. Another 48 teams advanced to the Purdue Fort Wayne Northern Championship Tournament.

The College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science (ETCS) coordinates the championship and leads the state FIRST LEGO League program as the Indiana FIRST LEGO League affiliate partner. The tournament is organized by the ETCS Outreach office as part of the college’s ongoing commitment to encourage youth to build their STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills and consider related careers.

For additional information, contact Nicole Hahn at 260-481-4106 (office), 260-760-7409 (cell), or [email protected].