For the I.C.E. Girls of Wildwood, Mo., this contest was about more than just building a robot or playing with Legos. The girls had to solve a food-safety problem as well as engineer a contraption to maneuver around the competition table. The quartet of pals, members of the Intelligent, Creative and Engineering Girls team, figured out how to incorporate germicidal ultraviolet light into a microwave so that it could zap food-borne illnesses without actually cooking fresh produce. Once they cleared that hurdle, they programmed their robot, Iggy, to remove fake rats from food areas and carry food from one spot to the next.

The work was so fine it captured first place recently at the regional Lego Food Factor Challenge. The girls will compete head to head with other teams on Dec. 4, in the hopes of making it to the upcoming world championship.

Team I.C.E. Girls from left, Jessica Baan, Jenna Roth, Ellie Strelow and Deepa Bhuvanagiri, won top robot honors at the St. Louis regional FIRST Lego League qualifier recently. (Photo by LAURA ROTH, to STLToday.com)