Nano Space Sharks Take Top Honors in Teamwork

The Nano Space Sharks of Hoodview Junior Academy were awarded the trophy for teamwork at the ORTOP FIRST LEGO League Tournament on Dec. 3, 2006.

Fourteen teams competed in the tournament at Intel Jones Farm Conference Center. Each team had built and programmed a robot to perform a series of "missions." In addition to the performance of their robot and its technical design, each team was judged on their presentation of research in current nano technology.

The award presenter explained that "teamwork" is the core value emphasized by ORTOP (Oregon Robotics Tournament and Outreach Program). The team receiving this award demonstrated their ability to show team spirit and cooperation as they worked together in designing a robot and preparing their research presentation with a minimum of adult input.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transport and is an international organization. ORTOP is the local chapter of FIRST and organizes yearly tournaments for more than 500 teams of students ages 9 to 14. Oregon State University is the sponsor of ORTOP.

Featured in: February 2007

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