NEW YORK, NY (October 5, 2006)
– LEGO® MINDSTORMS® NXT, the next gen robotics toolset that lets you design, build and program a robot to do what you want it to do, was among the honorees when POPULAR MECHANICS
, one of America’s largest men's magazines with more than 8.6 million readers, announced the winners of the second annual POPULAR MECHANICS
Breakthrough Awards
. The ceremony was held last night at the magazine’s new home, the state-of-the-art Hearst Tower in New York City. The 2006 POPULAR MECHANICS
Breakthrough Awards recognize individuals, teams, and products that are helping to improve lives and expand possibilities in the realms of science, technology and exploration.
"We’re thrilled to once again recognize these outstanding products and gifted teams for their contributions to the fields of science and technology, and for setting benchmarks in design and creativity," said POPULAR MECHANICS editor-in-chief James Meigs. "To receive a Breakthrough Award, an advance has to solve problems, expand horizons or engage the imagination of millions—it really has to matter. This year’s winners do this and more."
Those honored represent a diverse range of fields including robotics, medicine, aeronautics and chemistry. Their innovations promise to improve lives and increase our understanding of the world.
MINDSTORMS NXT was noted as a "much-advanced version of the previous edition of the MINDSTORMS robotics platform, offering even more options to creative, technically-minded kids and adults." The magazine also noted that the product makes it easy for kids to get interested in science and engineering, yet is sophisticated enough to be used to teach robotic programming concepts at the university level.
"It’s truly an honor to be recognized as a breakthrough innovation by Popular Mechanics," said Michael McNally, brand relations director for LEGO Systems, Inc., who attended the event. "To have a LEGO item represented among hard core inventors and high-tech mastery, from automotive technologies to smart tools to aeronautics engineers and medical technology researchers, is simply amazing, but speaks to the power of the LEGO play pattern, enhanced by meaningful technology."
LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT is a robotics toolset that provides endless opportunities for armchair inventors, robotics fanatics and LEGO builders ages 10 and older to build and program robots that do what they want. The set includes 571 LEGO TECHNIC® pieces, the NXT intelligent brick, touch, light, ultrasonic and sound sensors, 3 interactive servo motors, USB 2.0 cable, is Bluetooth enabled and features a new PC/MAC compatible programming software powered by LabVIEW from National Instruments that features 18 robotics building and programming challenges to inspire robotics creation.
LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT is now available at toy, discount merchandise, specialty and online retailers, including Toys “R” Us, Target, Apple Stores, Best Buy, Comp USA, Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Discoverychannelstore.com for a suggested retail price of $249.99 (USD).
Criteria and Evaluation
In selecting the candidates and winners of the 2006 Breakthrough Awards program, the editors of POPULAR MECHANICS
canvassed a large range of experts and academics to come up with a list of worthy nominees. PM’s Board of Advisors then reviewed the nominations to help the editors of POPULAR MECHANICS
choose the final winners.
A complete report of the Breakthrough Awards will be published in the November 2006 issue of POPULAR MECHANICS
(on newsstands October 10, 2006) and high-resolution images of the winners will be available upon request and at www.popularmechanics.com.
About the LEGO Group
The LEGO Group, a privately-held, family-owned company based in Billund, Denmark, is one of the world's leading manufacturers of play materials for children. The company is committed to the development of children's creative and imaginative abilities, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: "Only the best is good enough."
About POPULAR MECHANICS
POPULAR MECHANICS
is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) and one of the world’s largest publishers of monthly magazines, with a total of 18 U.S. titles and 145 international editions. Hearst reaches more adults than any other publisher of monthly magazines (76.3 million according to MRI, spring 2005). The company also publishes 19 magazines in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited.
LEGO, MINDSTORMS, TECHNIC and their respective logos are trademarks of The LEGO Group. ©2006 The LEGO Group.