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9 · Wednesday, April 4, 2012 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com ERIC RIEHL / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @halton_photog RIZIERO VERTOLLI / OAKVILLE BEAVER / @halton_photog Great expectations at worlds Continued from page 5 Safety and strawberries: The Safety Shrinkers (at left) are, from left, William Chi, Alex Burguete, Jeevan Vasdani, Justin Szymczak, Liam Macleod, Camden Malowary, and Devon Gobing. At right, the Strawberry Saviors are, from left, in back, Jamie Sinn, Kalli Bonin, Purav Shah, Ben Boyd. In front, Kevin Boenisch and Prisha Rathi. Missing from the photo are Jeremy Eichharn Conor Cristant and Michael Midura. The Safety Shrinkers went after the contamination component and have created a way to reduce cross-contamination in the kitchen. The robot, made of LEGO and electronics, performs on a field with a number of LEGO objects. There are tasks on the field, such as LEGO pieces representing things such as bacteria, which have to be transported to a LEGO sink and groceries that have to be moved to a LEGO table. Teams collect points for the tasks and the team with most points wins. "This is amazing," said Goping. "We thought after provincials, it would be over because we got second place. But then we got this note." The letter was their invite to the Florida competition. There are two districts in Ontario: east and west. The first place winners at provincials get an invite to the worlds in LEGOLAND, while the second-place finishing teams can get an invite to the world invitational in Florida. The Strawberry Saviours The Strawberry Saviours is a team of nine, also competing in the 10-14 age group. Its members are Prisha Rathi, Kalli Bonin, Purav Shah, Ben Boyd, Michael Midura, Conor Cristant, Jamie Sinn, Jeremy Eichhorn, Kevin Boenisch and Michael Midura. After taking first place at a provincial competition, it qualified for the championships in LEGOLAND. The competition is the same for the Saviours as it is for the Shrinkers. However, this team decided to fight food spoilage, specifically on strawberries. "We found out from our parents and other people that strawberries go the fastest," said Shah. They have made a product that releases CO2, similar to what is used in the food manufacturing industry to prevent food spoilage during the transportation from the farm to the store. However, their product is much smaller and can be used by the consumer. "They look perfect in the store, but the next day, they're just disgusting. In the store and on the way to the store, they're being kept perfectly, but as soon as you buy them, they don't care what happens to them," said Boyd. Last year's E-bots entry in the world championships, the Sentinels, won first place. The Strawberry Saviours are confident they can bring home another LEGO trophy. "Not to brag, but we think we deserve this with the amount of hours we've put in and the effort that we put in," Shah said. HOME SHOW SPECIAL BLACK GARDEN SOIL + FREE DELIVERY Ask about our MULCH for Garden Beds Spring Promo Special Only $ Offer valid until last day of Home Show! 116.99 + HST www.globalearthbags.com Visit Us at Your Local Home Show!