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On August 24, 2019, sixteen teams from NJ, PA, MD, WV, and VA, joined a pilot event called "Single Day Design." These remarkable 9-16 year olds, using LEGO EV3 systems, had just four hours to solve a tough challenge before competing in the afternoon. It was astounding. Every team worked with extreme intensity and delivered a solution. Remarkable solutions. But here's an overview of the excitement that filled the day.
Overview Video
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It was an unbelievable day for our team. Thank you for organizing this inspiring event. The event was well organized. The judges and volunteering were friendly, knowledgeable, and with a clear mindset to help kids being creative and have fun instead of "judging" them. Some of our team ideas got from the suggestions at the judging table. The judges encouraged the kids to succeed. This approach was particularly helpful for low scoring teams. They needed help instead of frustration. I like the opportunity that the event provided to children to deal with uncertainty, which is a life-skill no other events provided. There are many unknowns. They knew what they were going to do. The uncertainty is not just about the day of the competition. It also affected the preparation. The students needed to prepare much more than then a known-mission event. To be confident, they need to learn basic concepts of manufacturing, what the manufacturing engineers do, and what tools they need to have. The open-ended nature of the challenge motivated children to think deeply and pursue fundamentals. The team ended up meeting daily to prepare the event for the last two weeks. It was fun for them to experience creating something new every day, especially with the hope that they may help them win big awards. It is still hard to believe that some 5th graders and high schoolers under 16 could win more than $1000 cash. What an end of the summer and a start of a new season.