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Huntsville, AL – February 1, 2017 – The Athens Robot Team (ART), founded by MAG Engineer Andy Grose and his collaborator Jeff Biggs, is an independent team made up of 5th to 8th grade students from Athens, Alabama. They placed second at their regional qualifier on January 21st, earning them an invitation to the Alabama FLL (FIRST Lego League) State Tournament in March. At the FLL competition, the team will present a research project and their robot, and demonstrate their understanding of the science and technology behind it by explaining their programming decisions.

Andy Grose is an engineer for MAG Aerospace and has been guiding this team to state competitions for the past five years. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international organization devoted to helping young people discover and develop a passion for science, engineering, technology, and math.

The creativity these kids have simply amazes me” said Andy Grose. “As an engineer, I subscribe to the ‘Keep it Simple’ philosophy. When it comes to our robot design, I’ve tried to stress simplicity and efficiency to the kids. A robot doesn’t have to be big and elaborate in its design. Reliability and repeatability is what wins more points. I think those concepts have sunk in pretty good with (the students), and that will help them down the road whether they are designing the next space shuttle or latest smart phone.”

MAG Aerospace is proud of the team’s accomplishments and innovative thinking and wishes the team the best of luck in this year’s state tournament in March.

About MAG Aerospace
MAG Aerospace, headquartered in Woodbridge, Virginia, is a leader in providing and enabling global situational awareness to make the world smaller and safer. Private equity backed by the Clairvest Group, MAG Aerospace delivers manned and unmanned ISR operations, aviation training, and technical services to federal, global, civilian, and commercial customers around the world. For more information, visit www.magaero.com.