"Loudoun Students to compete in International Robotics Competition, FIRST World Festival, St Louis 2015"

Team Geared UP!, composed of nine students from throughout Loudoun County, competed on December 6-7th during the Virginia-DC FIRST Lego League (FLL) Championship Tournament held at James Madison University (JMU). More than 600 teams from

across the State and the District of Columbia participated in 25 qualifying tournaments with only the top 108 teams advancing. After two days of intense non-stop action, the team won the Division 2 championship! As tournament champions, they will represent our State and compete at this international robotics competition, the FIRST World Festival in St Louis, April 2015. The team is honored to attend this event and excited to share their robot and innovative research, with their peers from around the world. Team Geared UP! also proudly serves as the FIRST Ambassador Team for the Northern Virginia region. The FLL Ambassador Program is designed to recognize teams that demonstrate exceptional leadership and are willing to share their FIRST experiences with others. The students, along with their coaches, Mr. Mark Vanderlyn and Mr. Jay Govindasamy, dedicate themselves to STEM outreach throughout Loudoun County and Virginia. This year's FLL competition, themed World Class Learning Unleashed, focuses on how people learn today, and what knowledge and skills they will need in the 21st century. The teams were tasked with designing an innovative solution that adds value to society and improves learning around the world. In addition to the innovative solution/research component of the competition, teams are also judged on Core Values, Robot Design and Robot Performance. Teams spend months designing and building robots that complete missions on robot game tables. To find out more about Ashburn Robotics and team Geared UP! go to http://www.ashburnrobotics.com

Pictured- Team members (From Left) Front Row

• Pranav Bangarbale- Stone Hill MS • Jonthan Vanderlyn- Eagle Ridge

MS • Kenzie Green- Ideal Schools • Ananya Rajkumar- Virginia

Academy • Back Row

• Coach Jay Govindasamy • Vishnu Maddipatla- Stone Hill MS • Neil Rayala- Farmwell Station MS • Ritvik Jayakumar- Eagle Ridge MS • Mihir Kulkarni- Stone Hill MS • Chloe Green- Ideal Schools • Coach Mark Vanderlyn