Children to tackle biomedical engineering with Lego


9 Jun 2011

Almost 450 children ages 6-9 will take part in Ireland’s inaugural Junior FIRST Lego League final, where they will build a Lego model tackling biomedical engineering challenges.

The final, which will take place in The Radisson Hotel in Galway, lets young students learn how to solve problems and apply real-world maths and science using Lego components.

The program aims to show the youngsters the challenges professional scientists face every day. It features a real-world challenge to be solved by research, critical thinking and imagination.

The theme of this year’s project is biomedical engineering and the 15 schools taking part will design and build a challenge-related model out of Lego. They will also create a Show-Me poster and use this to practise presentation skills.

The senior level of the competition has been running for four years in Ireland, with Irish teams winning awards on a European and international level.

“With our track record for success in the FIRST Lego League Championships, we believe we are well placed to become leaders in the Junior FIRST Lego League Championships,” said Bernard Kirk, director of The Galway Education Centre.

“The level of interest received and the huge amount of talent we have discovered in Galway alone is indicative of the potential this programme holds.

“It is our intention to grow the Junior FIRST Lego League to the same level as the senior championship so that ultimately our students continue to learn and study in this area – providing a ready and willing pool of talent for the many tech-sector jobs we hear about so often,” said Kirk.