Fairmont State hosts twelfth FIRST LEGO League State Championship

Fairmont State University welcomed 48 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge and 24 FLL Explore robotics teams to campus for the West Virginia State Championship on Saturday, December 2. The FLL Challenge teams are comprised of students ages 9-14 and the FLL Explore teams represent students ages 6-9 from across the state of West Virginia. Around 650 participants, coaches, parents and volunteers attended Saturday’s event.

Tournament Director Dr. Todd Ensign reflected, “I heard from so many coaches, and parents that this was one of the best ran FLL events in more than a decade! I thank the 60 volunteers from the MARS Robotics team, NASA employees, Fairmont State faculty and students and the FTC teams from Moorfield for their tremendous dedication to inspiring the next generation.”

The FLL is the longest-running robotics competition in the state of West Virginia, and the championship has proudly been hosted by Fairmont State for over a decade. FLL is managed by For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) and has teams participating in over 100 countries worldwide. FIRST has also partnered locally with the West Virginia Space Grant Consortium and A3L Federal Works to sponsor the event. The local NASA IV&V Education Resource Center manages the entire event on Fairmont State’s campus.

”One of the hallmarks of FIRST is the conscious and deliberate emphasis on celebrating learning while having fun, which is at the heart of the program. Every single one of the participants gets to cross the stage and receive a medal for their hard work. In addition, we recognize teams for their outstanding performance in the three judged areas of Robot Design, Innovation Project, Core Values, as well as the teams that earn the highest match scores with their robot,” said Ensign.

The final results of the competition were:

• Rising All-Star Award: LEGO Paint Splatter from Martinsburg, W.VA
• Core Values Award: The Overrides from Fairmont, W.VA
• Innovation Project Award: Clover STEMS from Fraziers Bottom, W.VA
• Robot Design Award: Jackbots 2 from Moorefield, W.VA
• Robot Performance Award third place: Terrabots from Terra Alta, W.VA
• Robot Performance Award second place: Bruceton Minifigures from Bruceton Mills, W.VA
• Robot Performance Award first place: Team Zifius from Morgantown, W.VA
• Phil Tucker Inspiration Award: Coach Chuck Engle
• Champion’s Award third place: Space Goats from Morgantown, W.VA
• Champion’s Award second place: The Transporters from Fayetteville, W.VA
• Champion’s Award first place: Smithtown Robotics Wookies from Fairmont W.VA

The Smithtown Robotics Wookies will go on to represent West Virginia at the FIRST World Festival, which will take place in Houston, TX in April. The Transporters and the Space Goats will advance to invitational tournaments.

Questions about the FIRST LEGO League can be directed to Todd Ensign, Program Manager of the NASA IVV Education Resource Center at Todd.Ensign@FairmontState.edu or 304-685-3146.