The boys of Techno Sweeties ‘Going for Gold!’
The sun was shining, kids were singing and robots were charging. This all to make Science, Engineering and Technology fun and exciting for 35 FLL robotics kids (aged 10 to 16 years) and 8 junior FLL teams. I-SET entered 10 senior teams and 4 junior teams! They all WOWed the judges!!!
The FLL theme this year is seniors. The teams had to present innovative research solutions – and include at least one Senior in the team! Of course, most teams had parents, siblings and other family members along, just to support and be inspired by the work and dedication of these incredible kids!
The doors opened at 07h30, ceremony started at 08h30. Professor Sunette Pienaar-Steyn and Prof Gugu Moche welcomed all the teams on behalf of Community Engagement at Unisa and the College of Science, Engineering and Technology. I-SET encouraged the seniors to make use of the free tea and coffee pit area (when the competition gets too hectic) and theTwitteratia to twitter and tweet (despite the sing-song noise of the teams!).
The teams were divided into two groups – one started with the research and technical judging, while the other started the day with robot play for points on the 2012 Senior Solutions challenge tables! At lunch time the teams swopped venues. The end came too soon. ZK Matthews will never be the same again … thanks to the Siyahka sing-song brigade! It was awesome to see other teams joining in. The closing ceremony saw each team member (including the gogo’s) receive a medal! I-SET collected FOUR trophies, and TWO team invitations to the National Competition to be held at Sci-Bono on 1 December 2012.
Sincere thanks to each and every one (including the dedicated CSET student buddies who reported for duty at 06h00 on Saturday) involved in the organising, fetching, carrying, judging, catering, helping, assisting, smiling, clapping and supporting that made this event a truly memorable one! Even the robots had fun!
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