Belfast team wins state LEGO meet, eyes world title

BELFAST — For the second year in a row the Belfast LEGO Lions of Troy Howard Middle School will represent Maine at the LEGO League World Festival in Georgia next spring.

The six-member team earned the right to go for the world title by winning the state LEGO Robotics Championship Tournament held in Jay over the weekend. The Lions took first place in the research presentation category for their design of a high-altitude wind generator using nanotechnology. The team also took second place in the single-elimination tabletop robot competition.

Team members began working on their project in June and met on average for two days a week leading up to last weekend’s state competition. Nanotechnology is the use of carbon atoms to fabricate things on the molecular level. An example of nanotechnology can be found in the carbon tubes made into racing bicycles such as those used by Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

The Lions developed a model of a high-altitude wind power generator using LEGO blocks and computer software provided by the LEGO company. All of the competing teams are required to build their models from the same materials.

The high-altitude generator is a kite with helicopterlike blades and a generator motor, team member Karl Stearns said Thursday. In theory, the generator would climb 28,000 feet into the atmosphere until it reached the jet stream. Once there, the whirling blades would create electricity and send it back to the surface along its cable tether. The team selected the windmill because of the potential to use nanotechnology to make the cable, body and helicopter blades more lightweight and stronger than other materials.

The team needs to raise approximately $10,000 between now and April to cover the cost of travel and material expenses to take part in the Atlanta competition. The international competition will feature 103 teams from 39 countries.

"We will be competing against the best in the world and the best in the U.S.," coach Joel Knight said Thursday. Knight said the students have meshed into a strong, committed team that realizes if "you put in the time, you get to reap the rewards."

Those who want to support the team should contact Jacquie Kahn at Troy Howard Middle School, 173 Lincolnville Ave., Belfast 04915.