Montana State to host 20th anniversary of FIRST Lego competition

For 20 years now, Montana State University has been encouraging students from across the state to snap together Legos.

But this is no child’s play. It’s an annual exercise in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — that challenges the students to engineer and build robots using the colorful plastic blocks through the FIRST Lego League program. This year students will explore an archaeology-inspired robotics challenge.

“These programs have a proven impact on inspiring young people to pursue STEM,” said Loribeth Evertz, associate teaching professor of mechanical and industrial engineering in MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering. “MSU and the engineering college actively support these events, recognizing that many participants eventually become MSU students. When young pa