Team Model Scouts (#8658) won two awards at the fourth-annual North Texas FIRST LEGO^® League (FLL) Regional Championship robotics tournament.  The team placed 2nd in the Robot Performance Competition and received the Judges’ Award as special recognition of their overall performance at the tournament.  The team consisted of (left to right in photo) Brady Chanpong, Katherine Thomas, Matthew Thomas, Anthony Mellone, and Brendan Chanpong, all of Plano, Texas.

The FLL competition was produced by the Museum of Nature & Science and presented by Lockheed Martin.  Teams of young “engineers-in-training” spent months studying food safety, then built and programmed autonomous robots using LEGO^® MINDSTORMS technology to score points in 2.5-minute “mission” matches on a food safety themed playing field. Over 150 teams from the North Texas region competed in five regional qualifiers in December 2011; the top ten teams from each qualifier were invited to compete in the regional championship on January 21, 2012.

With a mission to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, FLL engages kids through exciting, mentor-based programs that build math, science and technology skills. Aimed at an international audience of students, ages 9 through 14, the competition teaches real-world problem solving through engineering design and teamwork.