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Youth Innovations Offering Solutions to Global Transportation Issues Recognized at FIRST® LEGO® League Global Innovation Award Ceremony Presented by Qualcomm Incorporated

“Takevians” of Samsun, Turkey Take Home Top Honors

 

ST. LOUIS, M.O. – June 24, 2022 – Students from around the world were recognized yesterday at the 2022 FIRST® LEGO® League Global Innovation Award Ceremony presented by Qualcomm Incorporated. The hybrid (in-person and streamed) award ceremony, held in St. Louis, Missouri, honored 20 FIRST LEGO League teams for their innovative solutions for global transportation issues during the ceremony, which included parents, students, coaches, patent experts, FIRST® sponsors, and industry experts.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a not-for-profit organization that inspires young people’s participation and interest in science and technology. FIRST LEGO League teams from 110 countries worldwide submitted their solutions for the FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award. Submissions were reviewed by a panel of expert judges, who then selected a winning team and two runners-up after a series of team meetings and invention examination sessions throughout the two-day event.

 

TOP HONORS

  • WINNER: "Takevians," Samsun, Turkey
    • INVENTION: Durable Packaging, Solid Cargo. ​Durable Packaging, Solid Cargo strengthens the most used cargo packaging in the world, corrugated cardboard boxes without changing the amount and type of material. It does this by making use of the newly discovered epithelial tissue cell shape, the "Scutoid" shape which can evenly distribute any force applied.
  • RUNNER-UP: "Baksteen Valken," Oshkosh, Wisconsin
    • INVENTION: FalconFire. FalconFire is a device that uses heat, smoke, and infrared flame detectors to sense fires in cargo containers. FalconFire’s WiFi-mesh network relays data between devices in each cargo canister, displaying the information on an app on the pilot’s tablet, allowing them to monitor canisters individually and quicky identify fires.
  • RUNNER-UP: "iAmicos," Yorktown Heights, New York
    • INVENTION: FlexShelf. FlexShelf helps fill unused space on shipping containers that are on average left 24% empty during the transportation process. Through a height-adjustable platform enabling products marked “not stackable” to be placed underneath while additional cargo is loaded above the platform, FlexShelf maximizes the space in shipping containers.

 

Additional awards went to:

  • Community Choice Award: "AC/DC/EG," São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo, Brazil
    • INVENTION: Perlite Thermal Insulator (P.T.I)
    • This award is presented to the team that had the most votes during an online voting session where the public could watch the Finalists’ pitch videos.
  • Create Award: "CRE8," Mason, Ohio
    • INVENTION: F.R.E.S.H. Pack
    • This award is presented to the team that verified the ideas and design for their innovation across multiple steps in their development process.
  • Design Award: "Robo Raptors," Fair Lawn, New Jersey
    • INVENTION: Cargo on the Clock
    • This award is presented to the team that excelled with an effective design and developed a sound process to consider alternative solutions and viability.
  • Implementation Award: "Albots," St Louis, Missouri  
    • INVENTION: The Road Guardian
    • This award is presented to the team that excelled by considering multiple factors for how they could implement their innovation and then they confirmed the feasibility of its implementation with professionals.
  • Innovation Impact Award: "Darth Rappers," Cary, North Carolina
    • INVENTION: 'Mile'nium F.A.L.C.O.N.
    • This award is presented to the team whose solution demonstrates how their innovation makes life better for its user.

 

Together, Qualcomm and FIRST are empowering youth from all backgrounds and capabilities to explore the possibilities of science, technology, engineering, and math, creating pathways to innovation, and the future inventors and entrepreneurs the world needs. From improvements to the water cycle and making space duration more accessible to innovative solutions in waste management and animal health, past Global Innovation Award finalists have brought their inventions to market, received patents for their inventions, and have been incorporated as businesses. This year, teams were tasked with identifying a problem related to improving the transportation journey of products, researching the problem, and designing a new piece of technology or improvements to an existing one.

“The future of how we transport goods and services relies on the empowerment of young, creative problem-solvers,” said Natalie Dusi, Manager Government Affairs at Qualcomm Incorporated. “Qualcomm is thrilled to be the presenting sponsor of the 2022 FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award, and we are excited to see how these students change the world.”

FIRST LEGO League partners with Award Sponsors to advance the common goal of fostering innovative problem-solvers. Our partner in innovation is LEGO Education.

Global Innovation Collaborators include Collins Aerospace, FedEx and John Deere. The FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award is presented in cooperation with The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

 

Learn more about the 2022-2023 season by visiting the FIRST® ENERGIZE℠ webpage here.

Find more information about FIRST LEGO League and the Global Innovation Award here.

 

About FIRST

FIRST® is a robotics community that prepares young people for the future through a suite of inclusive, team-based robotics programs for ages 4-18 (PreK-12) that can be facilitated in school or in structured afterschool programs. Boosted by a global support system of volunteers, educators, and sponsors that include over 200 of the Fortune 500 companies, teams operate under a signature set of FIRST Core Values to conduct research, fundraise, design, build, and showcase their achievements during annual challenges. An international not-for-profit organization founded by accomplished inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, FIRST has a proven impact on STEM learning, interest, and skill-building well beyond high school. Participants and alumni of FIRST programs gain access to education and career discovery opportunities, connections to exclusive scholarships and employers, and a place in the FIRST community for life. Learn more at firstinspires.org.