FIRST® LEGO® League announced the 20 finalist teams advancing to the 2022 FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award presented by Qualcomm Incorporated. Team #39029 “TriTech” from Dix Hills was selected from tens of thousands of teams in more than 110 countries for their outstanding Innovation Project. Their solution has demonstrated strong design and innovation and the potential to add significant value in the world. TriTech has invented the SCOUTbot for the CARGO CONNECT℠ season. Teams were challenged to design a creative new piece of technology or improve an existing one to help cargo along its journey. The team will join other finalists in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. at the historic Union Station to showcase their invention, participate in workshops, be judged by innovation, patent, and industry experts, and be exposed to career pathways in innovation on June 21-23, 2022.
 
On June 23 at 5:30 p.m. CT on the FIRSTtv Twitch channel, the Global Innovation Award will culminate with a live awards show, hosted by youth and featuring a live innovation activity. One winning team will be chosen. Additional awards will be given to two runners up, winners for impact, design, create, and implementation, and the publicly voted Community Choice.
 
Teams participating in the FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award must consider possible barriers to implementation, document the evaluation of their invention, and validate their design with professionals working in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).
 
Innovators, inventors, and entrepreneurs play a critical role in growing our economy and improving our quality of life. FIRST® and Qualcomm believe a more connected and inclusive world relies on providing today’s youth with equitable access and opportunity to explore the innovation process and channel their unique perspectives to create unique solutions for a better future. Students emerge as strong visionaries capable of applying innovative thinking to any problem. From improvements to the water cycle, to innovative solutions to waste management, past FIRST LEGO League Innovation Project finalists have brought their inventions to market, received patents, and incorporated as businesses.
 
FIRST LEGO League is an international program for 9 to 16-year-old children (ages vary by country) created in a partnership between FIRST® and the LEGO® Group in 1998 to get children excited about science and technology – and teach them valuable career and life skills. Children work alongside adult coaches to design, build, and program autonomous LEGO® robots, and create an innovative solution to a real-world problem as part of their research project.
 
The 2022 FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award presented by Qualcomm are sponsored by Collins Aerospace, FedEx, John Deere, and LEGO® Education and in collaboration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.