Brambleton Students Earn Top Honors at First Lego League World Festival

Team NX-Treme earned 1st place for mechanical design for their robot at the First Lego League World Festival in St. Louis, MO. The World Festival is regarded as the Olympics of Lego Robotics. This international competition featured 82 of the world’s best teams and ran from April 27- May 1. 

After winning top honors at the state tournament, this Brambleton-based team represented Virginia and the District of Columbia at the St. Louis festival. Decked out in white lab coats and crazy hats, the team fit right in with the circus-like environment at the Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams. But heading to St. Louis wasn’t all about competition

“The most exciting thing was being able to meet other robotic enthusiast from around the world,” explained coach Mark Vanderlyn in an email.

When they were not on the competition floor, the students spent the majority of their time sharing information about Virginia and DC with visitors from across the United States and around the world, and collecting trinkets from other countries.

Outside of competition, one of the highlights was an exclusive concert by will.i.am and the Black-Eyed Peas. will.i.am also participated in the opening ceremonies by driving an FTC robot in competition against inventor Dean Kamen, the founder of First Lego League.

To learn more about Ashburn Robotics, visit www.ashburnrobotics.org or contact the coach, Mark Vanderlyn, at 703-963-2623. To learn more about the FIRST organization visit the Web site at www.usfirst.org.