FIRST® LEGO® League at W5

What is FIRST® LEGO® League

The FIRST® LEGO® League is a global science and technology challenge, with up to 24 student teams from Northern Ireland taking part annually. The competition is aimed at pupils aged 9-16 years and aims to encourage an interest in real world issues and develop key skills that are crucial for future careers.

This worldwide robotics competition sees participants use simple computer coding to program a LEGO® Education robot in order to complete a number of simple tasks. Teams earn points for the number of tasks that they complete within a given time. Throughout the challenge, pupils also research a science-based topic and give a five-minute presentation to a team of judges, highlighting what they have learnt throughout the process.

This Year’s Programme

The FIRST® LEGO® League launched in late August / early September. This year's theme was called 'MASTERPIECE' and demonstrated how science can enhance art, and vice versa. In a nutshell, it was putting the 'A' into STEM.

Coordinated by the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), and sponsored by NIE Networks, Caterpillar, Fujitsu and Liberty IT, each team received a LEGO® model and a mat for practicing the tasks in their school before the competition concluded at W5 on Tuesday 6 February.

W5, Belfast’s award-winning science and discovery centre, is the host of the Belfast regional tournament. On 6 February, pupils had one 30-minute judging session in which they presented their research project and discussed their robot design and core values. Teams also had three attempts at the Robot Game which took place in W5’s Theatre Space. This sees teams complete different missions with their robots in only 2.5 minutes.

Thank you to all our participating schools, team mentors and sponsors for a thrilling event.

Find out more about FIRST® LEGO® League here.

Take a look at the winning teams

• Champion's Award - The Treehouse Gang
• Core Values Awards - Brickstage Malachians (St. Malachy’s College)
• Innovation Project Award - OPS Master Builders (Orangefield PS)
• Robot Design Award - Foyle Roboclub
• Robot Performance Award - Foyle Roboclub
• Judges’ Award - Belfast High School – for Innovative Robot Design
• Judges’ Award - Dalriada – for Best Breakthrough
• Judges’ Award - Technic Titans – for Motivate Award
• Coach / Mentor Award - Charlie Beimers from The Treehouse Gang

Thank you to all the teams that took part in FIRST® LEGO® League:

The Treehouse Gang, Belfast High School, Methodist College Belfast, Cambridge House Grammar School, Ballymena Academy, The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, Dalriada School, Foyle Roboclub, St Louis Grammar School, Brickstage Malachians, Technic Titans, Cullybackey College, St. Mary's College Irvinestown, Enniskillen Integrated Primary School, Model Builders, Our Lady and St Patrick's College, Knock, St Patrick's College, Orangefield Primary School, St Colman's High School & Sixth Form College, Ballynahinch, St Michael's College, Not Another Brick in the Wall, St Killian's College, and St Laurence O'Toole's Primary School.