{"id":13610,"date":"2021-01-04T10:05:32","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T10:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/?p=13610"},"modified":"2021-01-04T10:05:32","modified_gmt":"2021-01-04T10:05:32","slug":"qualcomm-incorporated-announces-support-for-first-ever-virtual-iet-first-lego-league-cambridge-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/qualcomm-incorporated-announces-support-for-first-ever-virtual-iet-first-lego-league-cambridge-tournament\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualcomm Incorporated announces support for first ever virtual IET FIRST\u00ae LEGO\u00ae LEAGUE Cambridge tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) FIRST\u00ae LEGO\u00ae League Challenge, a global science and technology tournament for 9 \u2013 16 year olds, is returning to Cambridge in 2021 and is welcoming applications from teams across the region. Now in its fourth year, the Cambridge tournament is funded by Qualcomm Incorporated, including the provision of robotics equipment and sponsored places to 12 teams from deprived areas across the county, enabling them to take part in the exciting robotics competition.<\/p>\n

\"\"For the first time ever, the tournament will be hosted virtually and tournament hosts – Qualcomm Technologies International Ltd., the Department of Engineering and Conscious Communications \u2013 and the IET are busy innovating the process to find new ways to make the tournament as engaging and fun as the usual physical event format. As always, the involvement of the children and teams taking part is of top priority, therefore to help teams as they prepare for the tournament, the IET has also developed a rigorous guide for team coaches to enable them to deliver the coaching sessions safely and effectively.<\/p>\n

Set\u00a0to take place\u00a0on\u00a0Tuesday 23 March,\u00a0the STEM tournament will see 25\u00a0teams\u00a0from across\u00a0Cambridgeshire compete for the chance\u00a0to progress to\u00a0the\u00a0national final\u00a0in July\u00a02021. The IET\u00a0FIRST\u00ae\u00a0LEGO\u00ae\u00a0League\u00a0Challenge is a global initiative, with over 67,000 teams getting involved across 110 countries every year.\u00a0From now until their tournament dates, teams of up to\u00a010\u00a0young people will be working with their team coaches to prepare for the Challenge.<\/p>\n

The theme of this year\u2019s\u00a0FIRST\u00ae\u00a0LEGO\u00ae\u00a0League\u00a0Challenge\u00a0is\u00a0RePLAY,\u00a0which is based\u00a0around\u00a0the importance of\u00a0play and being\u00a0more\u00a0active.\u00a0Students\u00a0are challenged\u00a0to develop a number of key technology and life-based skills through\u00a0the four\u00a0components\u00a0of\u00a0FIRST\u00ae LEGO\u00ae League Challenge:\u00a0the Robot Game, Robot\u00a0Design, Core Values and the Innovation Project.<\/p>\n

For the Robot Game, teams are required to\u00a0put their teamwork and creativity to the test as they\u00a0design and programme a LEGO\u00ae MINDSTORMS\u00ae\u00a0or SPIKE Prime\u00a0robot to complete\u00a015\u00a0missions\u00a0on a unique\u00a0LEGO\u00ae\u00a0challenge mat.<\/p>\n

The Robot Design aspect of the challenge involves teams presenting their robots to the judges and explaining their\u00a0design process\u00a0for building the robot\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0code they\u00a0have written\u00a0to\u00a0programme it.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0FIRST\u00ae\u00a0signature set of Core Values\u00a0lie\u00a0at the heart of the competition; teams are required to demonstrate these values throughout all aspects of the competition. They are:\u00a0Inclusion, Discovery, Teamwork, Innovation, Fun and Impact.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0the Innovation Project, teams must identify a problem connected to the annual theme,\u00a0RePLAY,\u00a0come up with a solution and then present their ideas to the judges\u00a0at the tournament.\u00a0This year,\u00a0for example,\u00a0teams\u00a0could\u00a0provide a solution to the challenge of ensuring more people in the community are keeping fit and active.<\/p>\n

James Chapman, VP & GM, Voice\/Music\/Wearables\u00a0Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd., comments: \u201cThe power of education and equal opportunity is\u00a0incredibly important\u00a0and we are enormously proud to\u00a0sponsor the IET\u00a0FIRST\u00ae\u00a0LEGO\u00ae\u00a0League\u00a0Challenge\u00a0in Cambridge\u00a0for the fourth year running.\u00a0Getting an experience of\u00a0programming,\u00a0in a friendly but competitive environment,\u00a0is a unique opportunity\u00a0for many\u00a0young people.\u00a0As well as the STEM skills that young people develop through the Challenge, every year we have been impressed by the collaboration, innovation and sportsmanship demonstrated by the teams involved as these are\u00a0all\u00a0skills needed for the world of work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowri Walton,\u00a0IET Education Manager \u2013\u00a0FIRST\u00ae\u00a0LEGO\u00ae\u00a0League,\u00a0said:\u00a0\u201cDuring these uncertain and challenging times, we are committed more than ever to delivering the life-changing experiences\u00a0that\u00a0FIRST\u00ae\u00a0LEGO\u00ae\u00a0League offers to young people.\u00a0Education has taken a real hit this year due to the pandemic\u00a0and we\u00a0are determined that\u00a0this Challenge\u00a0will not\u00a0be disrupted too.\u00a0At the IET,\u00a0the safety of our teams, volunteers, and staff\u00a0members\u00a0is\u00a0the\u00a0top\u00a0priority.\u00a0Although slightly different to previous tournaments, I am confident that this year\u00a0will be just as\u00a0enjoyable, successful and\u00a0rewarding\u00a0for everybody involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIRST\u00ae\u00a0LEGO\u00ae\u00a0League\u00a0Challenge\u00a02020-21\u00a0teams\u00a0are welcomed from a range of backgrounds; from schools to youth or community groups, or just groups of friends who share a passion for technology.\u00a0For more information on how to register please visit:\u00a0https:\/\/education.theiet.org\/first-lego-league-programmes\/register\/fll\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) FIRST\u00ae LEGO\u00ae League Challenge, a global science and technology tournament for 9 \u2013 16 year olds, is returning to Cambridge in 2021 and is welcoming applications from teams across the region. Now in its fourth year, the Cambridge tournament is funded by Qualcomm Incorporated, including the provision of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,72,50,51,52,4,73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-educational-event","category-engineering","category-ks2","category-ks3","category-ks4","category-news","category-stem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13610"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13612,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13610\/revisions\/13612"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education-today.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}