Student, faculty, staff, and alumni volunteers are needed to assist at the State of Georgia FIRST LEGO League Robotics Tournament, to be held on Saturday, January 29, 2011 from 7 am-5 pm at the Georgia Tech Student Center. The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing; and the LEGO Robotics Design and Outreach Community are co-hosting this event.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an organization that was founded to inspire interest in science and engineering among young people. The 2010 Challenge theme, "Body Forward," will have teams of students aged 9-14 exploring the cutting-edge world of biomedical engineering to discover innovative ways to repair injuries, overcome genetic predispositions, and maximize the bodies' potential, with the purpose of leading happier, healthier lives.

In this year's tournament, 337 teams are competing in 12 qualifiers and three super-regional contests, involving a total of 2,500 students. Through these qualifiers, the field will be narrowed to 48 teams, involving 450 students, that will advance to the January 29 tournament at Georgia Tech.

Volunteers are needed to serve as referees, scorekeepers, scorekeeper assistants, queue runners, pit monitors, food coordinators, judges' assistants, judges, and registration table attendants. For more information, please contact ECE Associate Professor Jeff Davis at 404.894.4770, jeff.davis@ece.gatech.edu, or visit http://www.georgiafll.org/ or http://firstlegoleague.org.