Augustana will host the fourth annual South Dakota FIRST^® LEGO^® League Championship from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Elmen Center.

More than 300 students from 42 teams across South Dakota  will compete at the event, a competition where middle school students (ages 9-14) design, build and program an autonomous robot to accomplish prescribed missions on a 4x8 playing field. Teams will also give presentations on research projects illustrating how they’ve tackled a problem and proposed a novel solution.

The event is coordinated by Robyn Swets, the widow of Dr. Dan Swets. 

Dr. Dan Swets served as associate professor and chair of computer science and mathematics at Augustana, and former president of the South Dakota Robotics Association and partner at the South Dakota FIRST® LEGO® League. Learn more about Dr. Swets.