5/1/2008 - Mindstorms Mania

A Showcase of Children's Robotic Inventions

Austin, Texas (May 1, 2008) - Move over R2-D2! See what the next
generation of inventors has got up its' sleeve. MINDSTORMS MANIA, a
celebration of children's robotics, will be held on Saturday, May 10 at
Oak Springs Elementary School. There will be children's robotic
demonstrations and grown-up made robotic demonstrations during the
celebration.

Up to 80 children from 6 private and public elementary and middle
schools from the Austin, Round Rock and Lake Travis Independent School
Districts will participate in this year's MINDSTORMS MANIA. The robots
were created by the children in their respective school's robotics
programs using LEGO(r) MINDSTORMS(r) NXT materials and software.

Children from Oak Springs Elementary were taught by Dr. Marilyn Fowler,
Science Education Manager at Austin Children's Museum (ACM) as part of
the Museum's robotics outreach program. "Children's robotics is an ideal
way to equip and inspire the next generation of creative problem
solvers," said Fowler. "Students strengthen their ability to persist and
to think critically as they debug and troubleshoot their structures or
programs." Since January 2007, ACM has provided robotics outreach
programs to 64 students in 6 low income schools in East Austin with
funding by National Instruments, the Topfer Foundation and the City of
Austin Grants for Technology Opportunities (GTOPS). A 7th program series
underwritten by 3M is currently underway at Wooten Elementary.

MINDSTORMS MANIA EVENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Oak Springs Elementary School

3601 Webberville Road, Austin, TX 78702

8:30am: Robot teams, parents, teachers arrive & set up

9:00am: Doors open to the public. Teams demonstrate and share their
inventions with each other.

10:20am: Welcome by UT Cockrell School of Engineering

10:30am: Big Robots Presentations by UT Robotics & Automation Society,
LASA Robotics Team

11:10-30am: Teams pack up and depart

MINDSTORMS MANIA is sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin's
Cockrell School of Engineering and Austin Children's Museum.

ABOUT ACM
The mission of Austin Children's Museum is to create innovative learning
experiences for children and families that equip and inspire the next
generation of creative problem solvers. Located at the Dell Discovery
Center downtown at the corner of 2nd Street and Colorado, the Austin
Children's Museum is one of the city's popular cultural attractions with
over 200,000 visitors annually. The Austin Children's Museum is a
non-profit 501c3 organization and all donations are tax deductible to
the extent allowed by law. For more information on the exhibits,
programs and outreach activities of the Austin Children's Museum, visit
www.austinkids.org or call 512-472-2499.