Members of the campus community are invited to attend the FIRST LEGO League State Tournament, to be held at UMBC on Saturday, January 21, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. UMBC will partner with the Boys and Girls Club of Harford County as host for the event, which will take place at the University Center and various other locations throughout campus.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that designs accessible, innovative programs to build self-confidence, knowledge and life skills while motivating young people to pursue opportunities in science, technology and engineering.

The 2006 FIRST LEGO League State Tournament at UMBC will host over 50 teams from throughout the state of Maryland and Washington, DC. The event is free and open to the public. More than 500 middle school youth and their families are expected to participate.

Spectators are invited to join the VIP receptions for breakfast at 9 a.m. and again for lunch at 12:30 p.m., in Room 456 of the Information and Technology Building.

FIRST LEGO League introduces 9-14 year olds to the fun and experience of solving real world problems by applying math, science and technology. FLL is an international program for children created in a partnership between FIRST and the LEGO Company in 1998. Each September, FLL announces the annual Challenge to teams, which engages them in authentic scientific research and hands-on robotics design using LEGO Mindstorms (TM) technologies and LEGO brinks. After 8 intense weeks, the FLL season culminates at high-energy, sports-like tournaments. In 2005-2006, over 72,000 children will participate from around the world.

For more information, please contact Anne Spence at aspence@umbc.edu or Mark Terranova at terranov@umbc.edu.

Read a preview that appeared in the Jan. 15 issue of the Baltimore Sun.