IPFW hosts LEGO League state finals

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - IPFW is hosting the First LEGO League Indiana Championship Tournament on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.

The event will be held in the IPFW Field House and is free to the public.

Elementary and middle school students will work as a team to program a NXT Lego robot. This year's challenge was "Senior Solutions." The theme involves designing technology to complement the aging process.

The following teams will be competing in the state finals on Saturday:

• Electrical Expressions from Woodside Middle School, Fort Wayne, coached by Sarah Kniss
• Huntertown Sprockets from Huntertown Elementary School, Huntertown, coached by Greg Byman
• Legocy Blue from Carroll Middle School, Fort Wayne, coached by Jamie Wilkins
• Thunderbirds from Huntington Co. 4-H Robotics, Huntington, coached by Chris Elston
• Tigerbots Green from Yorktown Middle School, Yorktown, coached by Deb Smith
• Northside Xtreme Team from Northside Home School Co-op, Fort Wayne, coached by Lenora Hazen Reider

The Robot games are run like a sporting event and referees score each match.

The winners of the state championship will move on to the World Festival in St. Louis, Missouri and compete against teams from throughout the world.