Students Compete In Semistate ‘FIRST LEGO League’
For the 26th year, Purdue University Fort Wayne held the FIRST LEGO League Northern Indiana Semistate Tournament on Saturday, December 13th, in the Lutheran Health Fieldhouse. There were 49 teams of students ages 9-14 competing for a chance to advance to the Jan. 10 state finals in Indianapolis.
Including judges, referees, and more than 100 volunteers, the event included approximately 2,000 participants and guests throughout the day, from the opening ceremonies at 8:30 a.m. until the awards ceremony beginning at 6 p.m.
Created through a partnership between FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and the LEGO Group, the FIRST LEGO League has grown to include over 29,000 teams in 80 countries. The program aims to inspire young minds in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, while fostering valuable life and career skills.
The first ever Indiana state championship was hosted by PFW’s College of Engineering, Technology, and Computer Science in December 2000.
The 2025-26 FIRST LEGO League season was themed “Unearthed,” which focused on archaeology and how we understand the past to shape the future. Teams explored what’s beneath the surface, from ancient artifacts to modern infrastructure, and identified and proposed solutions to real-world problems. The challenge emphasized the human element in archaeology, focusing on how people lived in the past.
Teams were guided by volunteer coaches (typically educators, engineers, or tech professionals). More than 60 volunteer professionals from PFW and the Fort Wayne community, as well as 80 ETCS students, assisted in the event.
Purdue University Fort Wayne is the largest university in northeast Indiana and is part of the Purdue University system. Purdue Fort Wayne is uniquely positioned to serve the region as a crossroads of intellectual, social, economic, and cultural advancement. Rigorous academics are combined with a focus on student success across prestigious degree programs taught by more than 300 full-time faculty. For more information, visit pfw.edu.
More than 7,400 students of diverse ages, ethnicities, and nationalities pursue their education on the nearly 600-acre campus. A majority of the Mastodon Alumni Community’s 55,000+ living members reside and work in Indiana, which contributes significantly to the state’s economy, vitality, and intellectual strength. The university is a member of the Horizon League athletics conference, and fields 14 NCAA Division I sports teams.
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