Global Innovation Award
What is the Global Innovation Award?
The FIRST LEGO League Global Innovation Award is designed to showcase the real-world, innovative solutions that FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams create as a result of their Innovation Project.

FIRST LEGO League Challenge trains kids to think like innovators. The Award encourages and assists teams in developing solutions to real-world problems that demonstrate originality and have the potential to add significant value to the world.

For many teams, the innovative solutions created through their FIRST LEGO League Innovation Project have led to some amazing opportunities, like receiving local and national media attention, meeting government leaders, and seeing their invention be brought to market. As a Coach, you might be wanting to provide an additional layer of engagement for a student that has that “ah-ha” moment seeing their idea come to life, you want your team to continue working after your Qualifier even if you don’t advance to Regionals, or perhaps your students need additional motivation to make their Project innovative (see the prizes below!).

Renaissance Jax wants this to be an additional opportunity for teams to engage with FIRST at a deeper level in our Region. We have some amazing Projects that deserve to be highlighted and cultivated!

After we send our Region's nominees to FIRST, twenty finalist teams from around the world will advance to showcase their research and inventions, and present to industry leaders at the FIRST Global Innovation Awards, June 28-30, 2021. Teams will participate in remote workshops designed to develop knowledge and skill sets, have individualized mentorship, and more. Within each program, top selected teams will receive exclusive prizing from sponsors. Awards will be announced live on FIRST​tv in front of a global audience of peers, sponsors, and industry leaders.
The 2019 INTO ORBIT Global Innovation Award was held June 30 - July 2, 2019 in San Jose, CA, USA. 20 teams from around the world showcased their innovative FIRST LEGO League Project solutions. These solutions were created to improve long-duration space travel.
How does Northeast Florida nominate a team?

FIRST LEGO League Challenge teams will submit an application to be considered as a Candidate for one of two nominations from the Northeast Florida Region. 

Whether a team receives a bid to Regionals or not does not affect the possibility of receiving Candidate status.

NEFL GIA Handout - RePLAY

  • How many teams will be named a "nominee" for the RePLAY Season?

    For the 2020-21 RePLAY Season, four teams will be selected to advance and submit to FIRST on a global scale.

  • How can my team be considered a Candidate for nomination?

    The Global Innovation Award nomination is only open to teams that choose the Classic Season option.


    Teams must apply via this SurveyMonkey form:

    www.surveymonkey.com/r/replay-gia

  • How does Renaissance Jax choose the Northeast Florida nominees that advance to submit to FIRST?

    A Renaissance Jax GIA Committee, comprised of the Regional Judge Advisor, the Partners, and a small panel of selective Judges will review the proposals, using the Global Innovation Award criteria, including the GIA Rubric.


    Renaissance Jax will notify both FIRST LEGO League GIA Headquarters and the Nominees.


    If you are chosen as the Region Nominee, you will submit your Project Innovative Solution synopsis and supplemental materials to FIRST in March.

  • How does FIRST choose the cohort of 20 teams?

    FIRST asks experts in engineering, manufacturing, and this year’s Challenge theme to judge submissions. The judges review every submission. This judging process is managed both by FIRST staff and an experienced FIRST LEGO League Judge Advisor.


    The Semi-Finalists (top 20 teams selected by the judges) will be notified in late-April. 

  • Are teams judged on different criteria for the Global Innovation Award?

    There is a specific rubric for the Global Innovation Award, however, it contains most of the elements found in the usual Innovation Project rubric teams utilize for their Qualifiers. 


    For instance, teams will see that the Identify category is also on the GIA rubric. A unique feature of the GIA rubric is Implementation. Teams should be very familiar with the GIA rubric when submitting their application.

  • Does a nominee team need to reach a certain robot performance threshold?

    No.

  • Can the Global Innovation Award nominees win other awards?

    Yes. The Global Innovation Award nominee is not affected by the team's performance in any other aspect, nor does it affect the team's eligibility for any other award at an event.

  • Do Global Innovation Award nominees receive a trophy?

    Because these are nominations, teams will not receive an official trophy at the Regional level. Renaissance Jax will provide teams with a certificate acknowledging their Nomination status.


    At the Global Innovation Award Celebration (presented by FIRST), all teams participating receive something that physically acknowledges their participation and teams who do win receive a trophy.

Contact Us

Global Innovation Award Coordinator

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