Plum Point Middle Wins Big at Robotics Challenge

Gator Bytes, the robotics team of Plum Point Middle School, took home the Robot Performance and the Champion’s Award at the College of Southern Maryland LEGO Robotics Challenge for middle schools on April 16, 2016. The event was held at the La Plata campus.

The Robot Performance award went to the team that scored the most points during the Robot Game, in which teams competed in at least three 2.5-minute matches to get the highest score.

The Champion’s Award recognized the team that embodied the First LEGO League experience, which means the team embraced First LEGO League’s core values and also achieved excellence and innovation in both the robot game and the project.

Plum Point Middle School swept both awards in the middle school category. Team ratings can be found listed on the CSM website.

The 2016 competition was sponsored by the Dominion Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Dominion Resources. The LEGO Robotics Challenges uses the LEGO Mindstorm/EV3 Robotics Systems for its competition platform.

The challenge for the teams this year had the theme “World Class,” and the teams had to build robots that competed in the challenge, then also had to complete a research project that was related to the theme. On the day of the competition, teams had to appear before a panel of judges to answer questions and be ready to discuss their projects.

The US needs more highly educated and skilled workers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Capturing the vision of local leaders in education, the military, and private industry, the College of Southern Maryland has established an Institute for Science, Technology , Engineering and Mathematics (ISTEM) in an effort to coordinate the many unique programs, activities and opportunities in Southern Maryland, such as the robotics tournament mentioned above.

With a focus on engaging, educating, and employing a future pipeline for a highly skilled and competitive workforce, the Institute for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics is a valuable resource for parents, students and employers. Partners, including the naval installations, the boards of education, colleges, career centers, private industry, civic organizations, and professional associations, have collaborated to coordinate efforts from grade school through college in order to ensure a highly skilled workforce that can be employed locally to lead our region into the future.

The Institute for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics will be a one-of-a-kind resource for Southern Maryland to engage, challenge, and educate scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians.

For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit their Leader member page.