It is not possible to get an overview of the history of LEGO MINDSTORMS and all the creative explorations users from all over the world have made, and it is not possible to collect all the stories and videos that the press and users have created since LEGO MINDSTORMS was launched the first time in 1998.

But Thursday 20 November a small celebration took place at the LEGO offices in Billund, where some of the stories were told and videos shown, and some of the many models were on display, when employees working with MINDSTORMS held a reception to mark the first 10 years of LEGO?s robotic building system, that has captivated so many children of all ages across the world.

The guests at the reception were a mix of former employees, who had worked with the development of LEGO MINDSTORMS from the mid-1990?s and on, current employees working in Billund, and not least a big group of fans who came all the way to Denmark to be part of the celebration from Canada, USA, Israel, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The owner of the LEGO Group, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, were the first to give a speech about the history of LEGO MINDSTORMS and how it all started, followed by Torben Balleg�rd S�rensen and S�ren Lund, who were part of the strong team around MINDSTORMS developing the RCX generation and the NXT generation.
Senior Marketing Director S�ren Lund told the story of how the development team invited adult fans into the research department to help create the NXT product and give invaluable inputs to the process. The first four adult fans to be involved were called the MUP, short for MINDSTORMS User Panel, and the nickname for a member naturally became ?MUPpet?.

Two of the first four MUPpets came to the reception, Ralph Hempel from Canada, and David Schilling from USA. David gave a speech about his experience with being part of the MUP and the ongoing cooperation with LEGO since 2005.

Eight persons were recognized as having been influential on the development of LEGO MINDSTORMS and received a special reminder; a golden RCX, the programmable microcomputer that was launched in 1998 (and which is still actively used in homes and schools!). The eight persons are Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, Torben Balleg�rd S�rensen, S�ren Lund, Tormod Askildsen, Linda Dalton, Robert Rasmussen, Mitch Resnick,, and Mike Dooley.

After the reception guests visited a brand new exhibition showing the history of LEGO MINDSTORMS from the early years before the first launch until today. On display were all the products launched from 1998 and on, among them the RCX-based set Robotics Invention System, the Robotics Discovery Set featuring the Scout and the Star Wars? products, Droid Developer Kit and Dark Side Developer Kit, as well as the NXT set, complete with models from the sets.

Everybody at LEGO working with and around LEGO MINDSTORMS extends a special thanks to all the fans around the world, who have helped and are still helping making LEGO MINDSTORMS the great success it is!

Thanks for making our robots rock!

It is not possible to get an overview of the history of LEGO MINDSTORMS and all the creative explorations users from all over the world have made, and it is not possible to collect all the stories and videos that the press and users have created since LEGO MINDSTORMS was launched the first time in 1998.

But Thursday 20 November a small celebration took place at the LEGO offices in Billund, where some of the stories were told and videos shown, and some of the many models were on display, when employees working with MINDSTORMS held a reception to mark the first 10 years of LEGO?s robotic building system, that has captivated so many children of all ages across the world.

The guests at the reception were a mix of former employees, who had worked with the development of LEGO MINDSTORMS from the mid-1990?s and on, current employees working in Billund, and not least a big group of fans who came all the way to Denmark to be part of the celebration from Canada, USA, Israel, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark.

The owner of the LEGO Group, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, were the first to give a speech about the history of LEGO MINDSTORMS and how it all started, followed by Torben Balleg�rd S�rensen and S�ren Lund, who were part of the strong team around MINDSTORMS developing the RCX generation and the NXT generation.
Senior Marketing Director S�ren Lund told the story of how the development team invited adult fans into the research department to help create the NXT product and give invaluable inputs to the process. The first four adult fans to be involved were called the MUP, short for MINDSTORMS User Panel, and the nickname for a member naturally became ?MUPpet?.

Two of the first four MUPpets came to the reception, Ralph Hempel from Canada, and David Schilling from USA. David gave a speech about his experience with being part of the MUP and the ongoing cooperation with LEGO since 2005.

Eight persons were recognized as having been influential on the development of LEGO MINDSTORMS and received a special reminder; a golden RCX, the programmable microcomputer that was launched in 1998 (and which is still actively used in homes and schools!). The eight persons are Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, Torben Balleg�rd S�rensen, S�ren Lund, Tormod Askildsen, Linda Dalton, Robert Rasmussen, Mitch Resnick,, and Mike Dooley.

After the reception guests visited a brand new exhibition showing the history of LEGO MINDSTORMS from the early years before the first launch until today. On display were all the products launched from 1998 and on, among them the RCX-based set Robotics Invention System, the Robotics Discovery Set featuring the Scout and the Star Wars? products, Droid Developer Kit and Dark Side Developer Kit, as well as the NXT set, complete with models from the sets.

Everybody at LEGO working with and around LEGO MINDSTORMS extends a special thanks to all the fans around the world, who have helped and are still helping making LEGO MINDSTORMS the great success it is!

Thanks for making our robots rock!