Teams of students from Cando and Grand Forks North Dakota and Karlstad Minnesota are three of 63 robotics teams worldwide competing May 1-3, 2008, in the first-ever High Tech Kids FIRST LEGO League International Open at the University of Minnesota Williams Arena and Sports Pavilion, as well as the Radisson University hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. These teams competed in the Grand Forks FIRST LEGO League Championship tournament in January and placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th of the 21 teams overall in the Grand Forks tournament competing. The theme of the competition is renewable energy.

Teams competing in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League international competition are from countries in North America, Europe, and South America. In addition, teams from more than 20 states in the United States will compete. This year's LEGO League competitions included more than 10,000 teams in 38 countries competing in hundreds of qualifying tournaments.

The competition theme of renewable energy challenges students (ages 9-14) to build small robots from a kit of parts, including LEGO pieces and elements such as sensors, motors and gears, to demonstrate energy management and conservation. Each team's robot will compete on a 4-foot-by-8-foot, table-top playing field simulating tasks such as placing solar panels on a roof, moving wind turbines, building a hydro-dam and planting trees. The students compete as an individual team and as part of international alliances. Several rounds of competitions occur simultaneously on the Williams Arena floor.

In addition to the performance rounds, students are judged on their research project, technical quality and teamwork. These elements of the competition will take place at the Radisson University hotel. This year's research task is a student-led energy audit of a building in the team's community. Based on that research, the student team outlines their recommendations for improving energy efficiency in the building.

All aspects of the competition are judged by professional engineers and scientists. The three teams with the most accumulated points across all categories will receive championship awards. The Seagate International Alliance Award will be given to the top-ranked international alliance and the University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE) Award will be given to the team with the research project outlining the best use of alternative energy.

Hosted by the Minnesota nonprofit group Innovations in Science and Technology Education (INSciTE), the High Tech Kids FIRST LEGO League International Open is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE), 3M, Seagate, Stratasys, Cargill, Honeywell, and the ADC Foundation.

For more information on INSciTE and HighTechKids, go to www.hightechkids.org.

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About UND SEM:  The UND School of Engineering and Mines (SEM) is a fully accredited engineering program offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs in civil, chemical, electrical, energy, environmental, and mechanical engineering, with undergraduate program concentrations in biomedical, computer and aerospace engineering. The School emphasizes its teaching mission while supporting a wide variety of innovative research in the areas of sustainable energy, bio-fuels, distance learning, aerospace payload development, remote sensing, engineered surfaces, and hydrogen fuel cell technologies.