Feb 28 2011
The Strategic Air and Space Museum near Ashland brought together over 800 students from all over Iowa and Nebraska for the Nebraska Robotics Expo. The teams were required to develop a robot which was capable of performing tasks in front of the judges.
Dr. Buildit, a robot presented by Mary Pinnell and her team “The Brainstormers” won the trophy for presentation at the First Lego League competition. Mary had previously participated in the robotics program by Time Warner Cable which also gave her the opportunity to meet President Barack Obama at Washington last year.
For the expo at Nebraska, the Brainstormers were guided and coached by Katie Barry and Kay Braddy, employees at Time Warner Cable. Third, fourth and fifth graders from across different Lincoln elementary schools are now considering a career in science. The Brainstormers was among the six teams coached by Time Warner Cable employees. Some of the participating teams came from Sheridan County in Nebraska and from Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.
While Brainstormers competed in the First Lego League competition, high school students participated in the CEENBot Robotics program. An official statement suggested that the competition this year drew twice as many participants.
A Crete High School sophomore, Matt Scholz mentored a 4-H team by designing prototype robots and helping them in the building process.
Source: http://www.ceen.unomaha.edu