Insider Brief

• Montana State University will host two robotics competitions for students across Montana on Feb. 2–3, featuring over 100 teams in events that are free and open to the public.
• The FIRST Lego League for grades 4–8 and the FIRST Tech Challenge for grades 7–12 will showcase students’ abilities in building and programming robots, with competitions livestreamed on YouTube.
• Winners of the state championships will advance to the national competition in Houston, Texas, with the events supported by various sponsors including the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering and Northwestern Energy.

UNIVERSITY NEWS — BOZEMAN/JANUARY 30, 2024/MSU News Service — Montana State University will host two robotics competitions for Montana youth Feb. 2–3 that will draw more than 100 teams from across the state. The events are free and open to the public.

Students in grades 4–8 will compete in the FIRST Lego League. Students have spent months building and programming robots made from Lego kits and will compete for the state championship at MSU on Saturday, Feb. 3, in Inspiration Hall in Norm Asbjornson Hall. The teams will perform “missions” on pool table-sized playing fields, and the FLL championship matches will be livestreamed on YouTube beginning at 10:45 a.m. Mountain time.

Students from grades 7–12 will compete Friday, Feb. 2, in a divisional round of the FIRST Tech Challenge with more complex robots in Shroyer Gym. The FTC event is open to the public and will also be livestreamed on YouTube beginning at 10:45 a.m. Mountain time. Details about the FTC event can be found on the Montana Robotics Alliance website.

“Montana is very competitive nationally in these competitions,” said Loribeth Evertz, associate teaching professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and coordinator of the competitions. “Several alumni from these competitions chose to come to school at Montana State. That’s one of the reasons we host these events.”

To earn their spot to compete at Montana State, FIRST Lego League students competed in qualifying tournaments in either Billings, Helena or Missoula.

Rob Maher, professor in MSU’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, will coordinate the judging.

The winning teams from each competition will advance to the national competition held in Houston, Texas, April 17–20.

The FIRST Lego League competition is sponsored by the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost, the Gianforte Family Foundation and others.

The FIRST Tech Challenge is sponsored by Northwestern Energy, Montana Credit Union Network, Extreme Networks and Montana Learning Center, among others.

Loribeth Evertz, Associate Teaching Professor, 406–994–2166 or [email protected].

SOURCE

Featured image: Elementary school students participate in the Montana FIRST LEGO League Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018, at Shroyer Gym at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont., as the MSU Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering hosts the event. Credit: Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez