WHAT: Student teams from 21 countries across the globe competed in the 2016 FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award competition presented by XPRIZE®, which was narrowed down to 20 semi-finalists teams.

• Finalist teams will be interviewed about their inventions at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and one will win a $20,000 cash prize; two runner-up teams will each earn a cash prize of $5,000
• The prize money, courtesy of the event’s Presenting Sponsor – XPRIZE, will be used to further develop each team’s invention or used toward FIRST activities; and each team member will receive a LEGO® MINDSTORMS® EV3 set from LEGO Education and presentation skills literary coaching from TED-Ed.

WHERE/WHEN:

• FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award Ceremony
  • Wednesday, June 22, 2016
  • 3:30 – 4:15 P.M.: Meet and Greet with the Semi-Finalists
  • 4:30 P.M.: Awards Ceremony
  • U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Madison Building; 600 Dulany Street; Alexandria, VA
  • Live streaming webcast of event: https://livestream.com/uspto/GIAAwardCeremony2016

WHY: The annual FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award helps students solve real-world problems by supporting the development of their ideas and inventions through the product development process. FIRST LEGO League teams submitted ideas stemming from the 2015-16 season’s TRASH TREK^SM Challenge, which tasked teams in 80 countries to explore the fascinating world of trash; from collection, to sorting, to smart production and reuse. More than 233,000 children worldwide learned there is more to your trash than meets the eye.

VISUALS:

• Students answering questions from experts about their inventions
• Announcement of winning team and runners-up

SPEAKERS:

• Dean Kamen, Inventor and Founder of FIRST
• Yvonne Cooper, Senior Director of Marketing and Communications for XPRIZE
• Panel of student inventors

ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Dean Kamen founded the not-for-profit FIRST ^® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 to inspire young people’s interest in science and technology. FIRST^® LEGO^® League is one of four programs in a Progression of Programs offered by FIRST.

Each year, FIRST LEGO League issues a three-part challenge to its teams, which includes building, testing, and programming an autonomous robot using LEGO^® MINDSTORMS^® technology and conducting a research Project working under a set of Core Values. FIRST LEGO League teams with exemplary Project innovative solutions around the TRASH TREK theme were nominated to submit their ideas to the FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award competition.

XPRIZE has returned as Presenting Sponsor of the Global Innovation Award for the sixth consecutive year. Partners in Innovation Sponsors include: Booz Allen Hamilton, John Deere, Rockwell Collins, NRG Energy, Inc., and LEGO Education, in cooperation with the USPTO.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160620005978/en/

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Contact:

FIRST ^®
Haley Dunn, 603-206-2494
Email Contact