Date: April 2, 2008
Contact: ksuarez@andrews.edu
Website:
Phone: 269-471-3348

Hundreds of students in grades 5-12 from across the region—Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin—will come together on Monday, April 7 for the regional Adventist Robotics League Challenge at the Mendel Center in Benton Harbor, Mich. Kids from Adventist schools across the region, as well as four public school teams from Berrien County, are participating in the challenge. This event is free and open to the public. Final demonstrations take place between 1-3 pm. The awards ceremony begins at 4 pm. 

Students will explore the fun side of math, physics, engineering, computing and other sciences by using a little teamwork to solve this year’s challenge, Power Puzzle. The Power Puzzle challenge will consist of four judging categories: 1. Research and presentation on the topic; 2. Team work; 3. Technical design and programming of the robot; and 4. The challenge itself, where the robot performs a complex task that simulates possible applications, such as building a bridge over water.
 
The Adventist Robotics League Challenge is modeled after the FIRST Lego League Teams. This event is one of several regional events. The winners of the regional events will advance to a national competition, which will take place in Howard Performing Arts Center at Andrews University on May 12, 2008.
  
The event is co-hosted by the Lake Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the Andrews University Engineering and Computer Science Department and supported by Lake Michigan College and the Mendel Center. The planning and judging committees include Lake Union Conference representatives, Andrews University faculty from departments across campus and community members. The director of the Adventist Robotics League Challenge is Bill Wolfer, chair of the Andrews University Engineering and Computer Science Department.