Four young aspiring scientists — Rochan Avlur (13), Ritwik Jaisimha (12), Nayonika Nair (10) and Sidharth Santhosh (13), students of the Bangalore-based Delhi Public School (East) and Deen’s Academy — who call themselves SAP MoonWalkers 4.0, were finalists at the First Lego League (FLL) Open European Championships held in Mannheim, Germany from June 6-9. FLL is an international robotics competition for children in the age group nine-16, staged with the objective of stimulating interest in science and technology. This global robotics competition is a joint initiative of Manchester-based FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organisation supported by a network of more than 3,500 sponsors including corporates, educational and professional institutions and individuals and the Danish LEGO Group, the world’s third largest manufacturer of play materials. This year, the FLL European championships attracted 67 teams from 35 countries.

The theme of the FLL Open European Championship 2012 was ‘Food Factor — Keeping Food Safe’. All participating teams were expected to explore the topic of food safety and propose new solutions to prevent contamination from exposure to micro and macro organisms, nonsterile processing and transportation, and unhygienic methods of preparation and storage. “To get to Mannheim our team had to first win the Indian FLL organised by Techtronics Education and SAP labs. Over 200 teams from across India participated. In January this year, we were awarded the first prize in the category of ‘Best Robot Design’ and a passage to Mannheim,’’ says Ritwik.

The judges of the Mannheim competition assessed the team’s solution as “exceptionally well-considered and creative, with good potential to solve the problem researched,” and awarded them the first prize in the innovative solutions category.

Back home after their triumph in Germany, the youngsters believe they have gained a lot from this experience. “The best outcome of this competition was that we learnt the benefit of team work,” says Sidharth. “That our project was among the final entries boosted our confidence,” adds Nayonika.

These youngsters are not ones to rest on their laurels and want to take their research forward. “We now want to devise a cocktail of bacteriophages which will prevent infection at the field level. This will help farmers economically and ecologically,” enthuses Rochan.

Way to go, guys!

Sangeeta Venkatesh (Bangalore)