(WXYZ) — Young metro Detroit Lego masters showed off their skills at the annual ThunderQuest at Henry Ford II High School in Sterling Heights.
It's one of Michigan's largest regional FIRST LEGO robotics competitions, where 60 teams tackled real-world problems with solutions from the brickverse.
"I really like them on my team, Some of them are 4th, one of them is 5th and there are 3rd graders," said Brooke.
8-year-old Broke Stricker is another 3rd grader representing Team Scuba Rex.
"I build the squid. And the little spin thing," said Brooke.
This year's theme: Submerged.
"It's really important that we have an awareness of the environment, and it's very cool to see how FIRST is able to merge different worlds of leadership and STEM and also awareness of solution issues... developing solutions to things like water pollution or environmental issues," said Adeline.
Adeline Paul is a high school senior who received a $10,000 grant to create and mentor 13 elementary Lego teams taking part in the 23rd edition of the competition.
"How involved are you in their ideas and concepts?" asked Faraz Javed, 7 News Detroit reporter.
"You provide them with questions, and you help mentor them and give them support, but ultimately, it's about empowering their voice and seeing what they come up with and helping promote their ideas and push their ideas forward; that's your job as a mentor," said Adeline.
Divided into two categories, the FLL Challenge is for teams of students ages 8-12 tasked to build and program a Lego robot. While FLL Explore is teams of students ages 6-10 focused on the fundamentals of engineering.
"How many ideas have been generated from an event like this that actually helps solve real-world problems?" asked Faraz.
"The thing that's amazing about this program is that they have something called the core values, that promote discovery, innovation, fun, all those aspects, so these students are not only learning essential STEM skills, but they are also developing as leaders, as innovators, as problem solvers, and those skills are transferable across all industries," said Adeline.
Dan Champoux is the CEO of GEKOT Robotics, a company he started from ideas he snapped during the 2019 competition.
"That year, the theme was city living. The students I was working with from East Hills Middle School researched a problem related to accidents and injuries related to using rental electric scooters. So they said, 'hey, can we put a collision avoidance system on one of these vehicles?' So now I have ten kids named on two patents, and now I've launched a company. I have eight employees, and we are about to make our first sale," said Dan.
"As an adult, how pleasantly surprised and proud do you feel that you got ideas from little kids?" asked Faraz.
"I often say these kids think outside the box, because there is no box," said Dan.
That's why these little Lego masters are stacking up creativity and innovation to the next level, one brick and giggle at a time.
"You are going to win?" asked Faraz.
"Yeah, I'm confident," said Brooke.
Now, winners from the competition will progress to the state championship, which will take place in January 2025, with the World Championship also taking place next year. Click here to learn more: https://www.firstinmichigan.us/.
