Harker middle school students gave impressive performances at the First Lego League robotics qualifiers on Nov. 19, held at the NASA Ames Research Center. Grade 6 students Kabir Ramzan, Jordan Labio and Dustin Miao – collectively known as “Alpha Wolves” – placed first overall and received the Champion’s Award for robot performance and design, as well as the project they submitted for the FLL Global Innovation Contest, which uses rainwater and irrigation systems to reduce wasteful water usage. The team earned entry into the Global Innovation contest that will take place in March. 

Also in the competition were Ramit Goyal and Joe Li, both grade 6, who were members of team “Savage Ninjas.” Their team took second place in the robot performance category, earning an 175 points in the final round, more than any other team at the event. Their project was to develop a method of controlling the use irrigation water by employing moisture sensors, which would save the use of California irrigation water by up to 40%.