FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) student competitions

LEGO League

A robotics competition for students in grades 4 through 8. This year’s Smart Move Robot game required the students’ sensor-equipped vehicles (robots) to gain access to places and things while avoiding or surviving impacts. The regional qualifier tournament was Dec. 12 at Prairie Point Middle School. More than 500 students and their 54 robots competed at the event sponsored by Rockwell Collins. The state tournament was held Jan. 16 at Iowa State University.

FIRST Tech Challenge

Teams of high school age students design, build and program robots applying real-world math and science concepts. Teams compete in an alliance format against other teams. Rockwell Collins is a national sponsor and the UI College of Engineering is a state affiliate partner. The UI College of Engineering hosted the Iowa championship tournament on Jan. 9. The world championship event will be held in Atlanta, April 15-17.

FIRST Robotics competition

Teams of high school youth are challenged to solve a common problem by designing and building a robot in six weeks using a standard kit and a common set of rules. Regional competitions will be held March 18-20 in Chicago and St. Louis, and April 1-3 in Minneapolis.

Future City

Teams of 7th and 8th grade students, along with engineer-volunteer mentors, create their visions of the city of tomorrow. The regional competition was held Jan. 23 at Prairie Middle School. The national competition will be held during National Engineers Week, Feb. 13-16, in Washington, D.C.

Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day

Rockwell Collins will host this year’s event on Feb. 16 and 19. The event brings eighth grade girls together with area women engineers to expose young women to the profession and to career opportunities. Participants are selected by their respective schools.

Iowa Engineering Society (IES) MATHCOUNTS

For students in grades 6 through 8, MATHCOUNTS poses fun and creative problems in both written and oral rounds of competition. Seventeen teams competed in the Cedar Rapids competition on Feb. 13 at Prairie Creek Intermediate School. Twelve teams will compete at West High School, in Iowa City, on Feb. 27. Drake University in Des Moines will host the state competition on March 26.

Eastern Iowa Science & Engineering Fair (EISEF)

On March 20, students in grades 6 through 12 will exhibit results of their science and engineering experiments at Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids. Top prize is a trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in San Jose, Cal., in May, where EISEF winners will compete with the best students from around the world.

Iowa Engineering Society Career Guidance Conference

The 36th annual event will be held Feb. 18 at Kirkwood Community College Center for Continuing Education. Pre-registered students can network with engineers and the deans of the engineering colleges at UI, ISU and Kirkwood. There will also be a presentation by “The Physics Guys from the UI.”

Corridor Canstruction

This is the fifth year for this event which will be held April 10 at Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids. Architecture and engineering firms, as well as student and community teams square off in a competition to design and assemble sculptures made of canned foods. Exhibits will remain on display until April 17 and then will be donated to area food banks.