Newport Coast Bad Robot wins FIRST Lego competition

Submitted by Ryan Chan

A team of 5th and 6th graders from Newport Coast won the FIRST Lego League qualifying tournament at the Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana on Saturday. Out of 24 teams from Orange County, the Newport Coast “Bad Robot” came in 1st place overall and 2nd place on the Team Project presentation.

FIRST is a nonprofit group that aims to inspire young people to develop a passion for science and math and well-rounded life skills that include self-confidence, communication, and leadership. First Lego League (ages 9-14) is an international competition to program team-designed Lego robots that solve problems. The league’s theme this year, Smart Move, deals with transportation issues. Teams around the world compete with unique Lego robots that perform tasks for which points are awarded and in presenting innovative transportation solutions.

The winning team members were Annelise Bui, 10, Maximilian Bui, 11, Ryan Chan, 10, Tyler Chan, 11, and Camellia Edalat, 10. The Newport Coast Bad Robot now moves on to the December 5th FLL Southern California Championship tournament at Legoland. This is the second year that the team participated in the competition.