The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is seeking teams of kid inventors from all over the world, and offering them an opportunity to compete for the chance to win up to $20,000. The winning team’s proposed invention will also have a chance at being patented in the newly created FLL Global Innovation Award. The top three teams will be invited to visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office so they can present to a panel and participate in the awards ceremony.
“Creative ideas may be tricky to engineer, and even trickier to accept, but they are the only type that can solve the difficult technological problems of the future,†said Kamen, adding, “The new FLL Global Innovation Award will help kids all over the world understand the importance of creative problem-solving, which is a skillset we desperately need for issues we haven’t even begun to see. Now, with the help of the X PRIZE Foundation and the USPTO, these kids have the chance to turn their ideas into reality.â€
The Global Innovation Award competition is open to global FLL teams officially registered for the current competition season. Deadline for submissions is March 4, 2011, at 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The general public is invited to visit the Global Innovation Award website to vote.
Screenshot from FLL