Saarland – Land of Ideas

Since four years, the Saarland has been represented with a multitude of good ideas. Nineteen of the ideas that received an award in 2008/2009 were originated in the smallest German State, among them also the Science Park Saar. www.science-park-saar.de

Among the few prize winners presenting their ideas before the German President Horst Köhler who patronized the event in the Berlin Theater des Westens also was an excellent concept from Saarland – the Roberta Regiozentrum Saarland.

Realized in Saarland by Prof. Dr. Martina Lehser, professor at the Saarland Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft (HTW), the Roberta project uses LEGO® robots to fascinate children for science and technology. As the project has shown, the playful handling of robotics can wake childrens´ enthousiasm for informatics and technical subjects. As, meanwhile, the demand by side of Saarland schools is too big to be handled, the HTW has started a training of teachers enabling them to directly and continuously use Roberta at their schools. The first Roberta LEGO Engineering Conference was an important step to introduce this innovative concept at Saarland schools.

Meanwhile, the small HTW robots are also known beyond Saarland borders and Lehser sees herself confirmed by the demand from abroad. In November 2008, Lehser and her team for the first time travelled to Nanjing, China, to present Roberta there. In April 2009, they were invited to China again: At the school of the German Embassy in Beijing, the Roberta RegioZentrum Saarland team will for two weeks be offering Roberta courses to the schoolchildren.