Rockwall, Texas – April 22, 2014 – Last June, the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation and the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) announced a partnership to support growth and development of hundreds of VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) high school teams. Six of the best of these teams are making the trip to the 2014 VEX Robotics World Championship, which will be held in Anaheim, California from April 23 to 26, 2014.
The six TWC teams joining us in Anaheim will be Teams 231a and 231b from Pasadena ISD Robotics in Pasadena, Texas; Team 2880a, the TorBots from Galveston, Texas; Team 4000, the Omni Eagles from Quinlan, Texas; Team 4128a, Awty Robotics from Houston, Texas; and Team 4252a Pastoral Invasion from Cedar Park, Texas.
“Robotics has truly changed my life,” said Zachary, a member of Ball Preparatory Academy’s World Championship-bound robotics team that was created this season by the grant. “I am now an A-Honors student,” Zachary said. “I'm getting college letters already, it's made me learn cooperation, passion, persistence, and patience, but most of all, it’s taught me how big the world is, and how many opportunities are available.”
“The REC Foundation is grateful to the Texas Workforce Commission for providing students in Texas access to an affordable, sustainable, and curriculum-based robotics engineering program in the VEX Robotics Competition,” said Jason Morrella, President, REC Foundation. “We share the Texas Workforce Commission’s interest in providing more students access to high quality science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs that will impact their future college and career aspirations, encouraging them to pursue these fields.”
“It is important to inspire the future workforce to become innovators in science and technology,” Andres Alcantar, Texas Workforce Commission Chairman, said. “This competition encourages students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math endeavors that help them acquire skills for high-demand occupations. We wish these Texas teens much success as they compete at the Robotics World Championship.”
The REC Foundation manages the VEX Robotics Competition, which provides students and teams worldwide with hands-on, curriculum-based robotics engineering programs while also engaging them in valuable teamwork and problem-solving experience. Teams compete year-round at more than 750 events which culminate in April at the annual VEX Robotics Competition World Championship.
VEX Robotics is the largest co-curricular elementary, middle, and high school robotics program and reached more than 100,000 students during the 2013-2014 season. To learn more about the REC Foundation, please visit www.RoboticsEducation.org.
About the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the U.S. and internationally. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry, and the non-profit community to achieve this work.
About the Texas Workforce Commission
The Texas Workforce Commission is a state agency dedicated to helping Texas employers, workers and communities prosper economically. For details on TWC and the services it offers in coordination with its network of local workforce development boards, call 512-463-8942 or visit www.texasworkforce.org.
On April 23-26, 2014, students from around the world will converge on Anaheim, Calif. for the ultimate robotics showdown – The VEX Robotics World Championship!
The VEX Robotics World Championship – the climax of the season for the largest and fastest growing educational and competitive robotics program in the world – presented by the Robotics Education and Competition (REC) Foundation and the Northrop Grumman Foundation, is taking place this week! On April 23-26, 2014, over 15,000 participants from over 26 countries will meet and engage in a fierce, science and technology-fueled battle at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Each year, VEX reaches more than half a million students across the world in the classroom and through after-school competitions, turning robotics into a captivating hands-on sport that challenges both students’ brainpower and teamwork skills. Competitors at this level make up the world’s sharpest, most ambitious, technology-focused elementary school, middle school, high school, and university students. These young prodigies have committed their time and energy throughout the season designing, building, programming, and developing their own unique competition strategies at more than 750 local, regional and national tournaments. Of the more than 10,000 VEX Robotics teams that exist in the world, the top 760 teams have earned the right to travel to Anaheim, California where they will form strategic alliances with other teams and challenge competitors at the 2013-2014 season games: VEX Toss Up and VEX Add It Up.
Additionally, this will be the second year for the VEX Robotics World Championship VEX IQ Challenge – a new, exciting STEM program for elementary and middle school students. Using the VEX IQ platform, students with guidance from their mentors build robots designed to solve specific engineering challenges that are presented in the form of a game. In addition to building robots, the VEX IQ Challenge encourages students to actively learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics with a STEM-themed research project that consists of a written or media presentation.
Legendary skateboarder, Tony Hawk, will be in attendance, visiting teams and checking out qualifying matches Friday afternoon, and will provide a few opening remarks before the grand unveiling of the new game for the 2014/2015 season. The VEX Robotics World Championship is open to the public, FREE, and fun for the whole family! In fact, spectators are welcome and encouraged to watch matches, attend ceremonies, and visit with teams in the pit area as they strategize and prepare their robots for competition.
“It’s always exciting and inspiring to watch the students in action at the VEX Robotics World Championship. We’re so proud of how the REC Foundation has been able to bolster these essential STEM programs and continue to grow the VEX Robotics Competition and the VEX IQ Challenge,” said Jason Morrella, president of the REC Foundation. “The students that immerse themselves in these programs are the innovators of the future; tomorrow’s great scientists, engineers, and educators.”
Partners and sponsors of the 2014 VEX Robotics World Championship include Northrop Grumman Foundation, EMC, NASA, Chevron, Microchip, Texas Instruments and HEXBUG.
Fans can follow the competition and sign up for real-time competition news and results via live webcasts, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram and YouTube updates. Real time tournament results are also available through VEX via an iPhone and Android compatible app, which provides match schedules, rankings and scores. For more information visit RobotEvents.com/championship.
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The UK National Championship to take place on March 14 – 15 – events sponsored by Northrop Grumman Foundation
March 13, 2014 – The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation is pleased to announce the VEX Robotics Competition UK National Championship to be held at the National Exhibition Centre as part of the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham on March 14 and 15. The event is expected to attract 40 teams with students from primary and secondary schools competing in the VEX IQ Challenge and the VEX Robotics Competition during two days of robotics matches. The VEX Robotics Competitions are sponsored by the Northrop Grumman Foundation, which has provided grants this year for new teams and additional competitive events. Over the last year across the UK, the VEX Robotics Competition and VEX IQ Challenge have grown from 76 teams last season to more than 120 teams this year.
“Northrop Grumman has industry leading capabilities in unmanned vehicle systems and is committed to supporting education activities that encourage an interest in the STEM subjects, science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Andrew Tyler, Chief Executive UK & Europe, Northrop Grumman. “This competition provides an opportunity to inspire the young scientists, engineers and mathematicians of tomorrow through learning about robotics.”
Globally, the REC Foundation’s programmes are on target to grow by 2,500 teams this year and in order to accommodate the growth the Foundation expects to add a number of international events in the coming years, offering students more opportunities to compete locally and save on travel costs for competition.
“The REC Foundation recognizes that successfully preparing our children for the future global economy will require a strong understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Jason Morrella, President of the REC Foundation. “Robotics engineering programmes naturally engage and inspire students to pursue STEM subjects and careers and we are committed to providing them with high quality competition opportunities, like the VEX Robotics Competition, to accommodate their growing interest. We could not do this without the support of sponsors like Northrop Grumman that share our passion for technology education.”
VEX Robotics is the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics programme for e schools around the world, with more than 9,500 teams from 28 countries that participate in more than 800 competitions worldwide. The competition season culminates each Spring, with the highly-anticipated VEX Robotics Competition World Championship presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation and the REC Foundation, which unites top qualifying teams from local, state and international VEX Robotics Competitions.
For details on additional upcoming events, please visit www.RobotEvents.com, a unique resource for teams and event partners to register and share updates from their robotics competitions. For more information about the REC Foundation, please visit www.RoboticsEducation.org.
About the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programmes across the U.S. and internationally. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry, and the non-profit community to achieve this work.
WASHINGTON COUNTY, MD – February 10, 2014 – Local students from South Hagerstown High School’s Rebel Robotics and Rebel Robotics II teams and Western Heights Middle School’s WHMS Red team were awarded Winning Alliance trophies as Tournament Champions of Saturday’s Washington County VEX Robotics Competition. A three-team alliance between Washington County Technical High School’s Green team, South Hagerstown High School’s Rebel Robotics II team, and E. Russell Hicks’ Huskies-F2PNUB team was recognized as Tournament Finalists/Runners-up. The event was sponsored by the Volvo Group Hagerstown site and made possible by its many employee volunteers.
South Hagerstown High School’s Rebel Robotics II team was recognized with the Excellence Award, the most prestigious award of the competition, and Washington County Technical High School’s Green team received the Design Award for outstanding engineering and documentation. Twenty-six teams comprised of middle and high school students teams from Washington County Public Schools competed. The Tournament Champions, Tournament Finalists, Excellence Award winners and Design award recipients all qualified for the Maryland State Championship VEX Robotics Competition on March 8, 2014, in Westminster, Md.
In the weeks leading up to the event, students applied what they learned about science, technology, engineering and math in the classroom to design and build a robot that could quickly and efficiently solve specific obstacles and challenges that come with playing the game VEX Toss Up. The competition environment also taught an equally important set of skills -- communication, project management, site management and the importance of composure, because students have to learn how to lose as much as they have to learn how to win.
“We are proud to be able to showcase this program that has given local students a fun way to learn about science, technology, engineering and math,” said Wade Watson, vice president and plant manager of the Volvo Group Hagerstown site. “VEX is a challenging competition providing teamwork, problem-solving and hands-on learning experiences; we just may have brought excitement to STEM for future Volvo Group Hagerstown employees.”
“The students participating in the VEX Robotics Competition consistently exhibit high levels of enthusiasm, teamwork, and a true passion for learning and gaining new appreciation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics through robotics,” said Jason Morrella, president of the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation,
The REC Foundation runs the VEX Robotics Competition program that thousands of schools participate in around the world. The events are open and free for media, families and community members to attend. The Volvo Group’s Hagerstown site sponsored the event, covering entry fees and travel expenses for competitors.
About VEX Robotics
VEX Robotics is the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics program for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world, with more than 7,300 teams from 26 countries that participate in more than 400 VEX Robotics Competition events worldwide. The competition season culminates each Spring, with the laudable VEX Robotics World Championship event, uniting top qualifying teams from local, state and international VEX Robotics Competitions. More information about the VEX Robotics Competition is available at Roboticseducation.org and RobotEvents.com.
About the REC Foundation
The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, supports robotics and technology events and programs that aim to inspire and motivate students to advance in STEM education. In addition to operating and supporting competitions for some of the world’s leading robotics platforms and organizations including VEX, TSA and BEST Robotics Competitions, the foundation also provides program support and workshops focused on technology and professional development for educators – including the RobotEvents.com community portal website which helps promote multiple high quality programs and provides online registration and event pages for hundreds of events around the world.
BOULDER, Colo. Feb. 6, 2013–The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation is pleased to announce the VEX Robotics Competition Robot Bash to be held at the University of Colorado at Boulder on Saturday. The event is expected to attract more than 20 teams with students from middle and high school competing over one full day of robotics. The event is sponsored locally by GoDaddy, the Web’s top platform for small business. Over the last year in Colorado, the VEX IQ Challenge and the VEX Robotics Competition have grown from approximately 65 teams last season to include more than 95 teams this year.
The REC Foundation’s programs are on target to grow by 2,500 teams this year and in order to accommodate the growth the Foundation expects to add a number of state events in the coming years, offering students more opportunities to compete locally and save on travel costs for competition.
“The REC Foundation recognizes that successfully preparing our children for the future global economy will require a strong understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Jason Morrella, President of the REC Foundation. “Robotics engineering programs naturally engage and inspire students to pursue STEM subjects and careers and we are committed to providing them with high quality competition opportunities, like the VEX Robotics Competition, to accommodate their growing interest.”
The VRC Robot Bash in Colorado is one of a series of VEX Robotics Competitions taking place internationally throughout the year. VEX Robotics is the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics program for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world, with more than 9,500 teams from 28 countries that participate in more than 800 competitions worldwide. The competition season culminates each Spring, with the highly-anticipated VEX Robotics Competition World Championship presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation and the REC Foundation, which unites top qualifying teams from local, state and international VEX Robotics Competitions.
For details on additional upcoming events, please visit www.RobotEvents.com, a unique resource for teams and event partners to register and share updates from their robotics competitions.
About the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the U.S. and internationally. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry, and the non-profit community to achieve this work.
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Rockwall, TX – January 6, 2014 – Robot-bearing students from VRC team 2587Z, the DiscoBots, from Houston, Texas, VRC team 9090C, T-VEX from Arlington, Texas and VRC team 231Z from Pasadena ISD Robotics in Houston, Texas took home the coveted Winning Alliance trophies as Tournament Champions of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl VEX Robotics Competition in San Antonio this past week. VRC team 4080A, Silent Bot Deadly, from Ladonia, Texas was recognized with the Excellence award, the most prestigious award of the competition. VRC team 400X, team Xtreme, from Galveston, Texas went away with the Design award for their outstanding engineering and documentation. These middle and high school students competed with and against 54 teams from across Texas and Mexico. The Tournament Champions, Excellence award winners, and Design award recipients all qualified for the chance to compete in the South Texas Regional VEX Robotics Competition and the U.S. Open VEX Robotics Championship in Omaha, Nebraska.
The action-packed day required middle and high school students to execute VEX Toss Up, a game that is played on a 12’x12’ square field. Two alliances – one “red” and one “blue” – composed of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a fifteen-second autonomous period followed by one minute and forty-five seconds of driver-controlled play. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by scoring bucky balls and large balls in middle and goal zones, earning bonus points and doubling or negating goals.
“The Army is proud to be able to showcase the incredible talents of these winning teams and all of the students who took part in this competition,” said Col. John Keeter, deputy, Army Marketing and Research Group. “Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are critical not just to our Army’s success, but to the success of our nation, and we recognize the importance of encouraging STEM interest and excellence in today’s youth.”
High School senior Cedric Shy, Driver of VRC team 2587Z, the DiscoBots, from Houston, Texas, who was a part of the Winning Alliance commented, “The best moment of the day was making it to the finals. I’m so proud of the communication that we maintained with our alliance partners and our ability to play offense and defense against the tough competition. Our ultimate goal is to compete at the VEX World Championship alongside some of the most accomplished teams from around the world.”
Jason Morrella, president of the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, said, “The students participating in the VEX Robotics Competition consistently exhibit high levels of enthusiasm, teamwork, and a true passion for learning -- gaining new appreciation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics through robotics.” The REC Foundation manages the VEX Robotics Competition program that thousands of schools participate in around the world.
The U.S. Army All-American Bowl VEX Robotics Competition is one of a series of VEX Robotics Competitions taking place internationally throughout the year. The VEX Robotics Competition is the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics program for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world, with more than 9,000 teams from 26 countries that participate in more than 400 VEX Robotics Competition events worldwide.
More information about The REC Foundation and VEX Robotics Competitions is available at robocticseducation.org and RobotEvents.com.
About the REC Foundation
The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, supports robotics and technology events and programs that aim to inspire and motivate students to advance in STEM education. In addition to operating and supporting competitions for some of the world’s leading robotics platforms and organizations including VEX, TSA and BEST Robotics Competitions, the Foundation also provides program support and workshops focused on technology and professional development for educators – including the RobotEvents.com community portal website which helps promote multiple high quality programs and provides online registration and event pages for hundreds of events around the world.
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ROCKWALL, TEXAS – January 22, 2014 – The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation today announced that the State of Hawaii has been chosen to host the VEX Robotics Summer Games, a premier international STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) event. The VEX Robotics Summer Games will welcome up to 200 elementary, middle, high school and college teams from around the world to compete in the VEX IQ Challenge, VEX Robotics Competition (VRC), and VEX U in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 10-12, 2014 at the Hawaii Convention Center.
The Summer Games will be the last official tournament for the 2013/2014 competition season and the first official tournament for the 2014/2015 season, with divisions for both sets of games: “Add It Up” (VEX IQ Challenge) and “Toss Up” (VEX Robotics Competition) in addition to the 2014/2015 games that will be announced on April 25th at the 2014 VEX Robotics Competition World Championship. The Summer Games will also be the first official qualifying event for teams to earn a spot at the 2015 VEX Robotics Competition World Championship.
The 2014 VEX Robotics Summer Games will be organized and managed by the Friends of Hawaii Robotics, in conjunction with the Hawaii State VEX Steering Committee and the REC Foundation. Oceanic Time Warner Cable will be the lead presenting corporate partner.
“Oceanic Time Warner Cable (OTWC), and its employees, are ‘all in’ as it relates to the building of STEM, specifically robotics, in the State of Hawaii. Friends of Hawaii Robotics has shown their heart for Hawaii students by ensuring more opportunities are available for them to grow their scholastic skills. We are excited to play a key role with this exciting, new tournament,” said Bob Barlow, President of OTWC.
“The REC Foundation is pleased to work with great partners to offer exciting competitions that support our community’s ever-growing passion to explore science, technology, engineering and math while experiencing hands-on collaboration through robotics engineering,” said Jason Morrella, President, REC Foundation. “These events come about in direct response to the demand from students, teachers, mentors, event partners, and sponsors to offer more opportunities for teams to get together from around the world and experience the thrill of our robotics competitions.”
The VEX Robotics Summer Games will conclude the 2013/2014 competition season, following the two largest VEX Robotics Competition events of the season. Namely, the U.S. Open hosted by the CREATE Foundation where approximately 200 middle and high school teams will compete in Omaha, Nebraska on April 3-5, 2014 and the VEX Robotics Competition World Championship where approximately 800 teams from 25 countries will compete in Anaheim, California on April 23-26, 2014. These high profile events will help accommodate the exponential growth of the VEX Robotics Competition over the past season and provide teams new competition opportunities at critical times of the year. To learn more about qualifying for these events please visit www.robotevents.com.
“Friends of Hawaii Robotics is honored that the REC Foundation has accepted our proposal to host such a high profile inaugural event in Hawaii,” said Lenny Klompus, Chair and President, Friends of Hawaii Robotics. “Hawaii is perfectly positioned geographically for teams from the Asia and Pan Pacific countries like China, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia to meet and compete with our innovative teams from Hawaii, the mainland United States and other North and South American countries, like Canada and Mexico. This international event reinforces Hawaii’s role in the ever-growing robotics community, and as a leading Pacific Rim location for companies to do business.”
“We’re excited to have the winning teams from the U.S. Open qualify to compete in the VEX Robotics Summer Games in Hawaii,” said Jim Schulte, CREATE Foundation Board President. “Holding a premier event in the summer will be a great addition to the hundreds of local, state and national competitions already held in the fall and winter that are followed by the U.S. Open and the World Championship in the spring – giving schools and students even more opportunities to participate whenever and wherever is best for them.”
Osa Tui, the chair of the planning committee for the international VEX Robotics Summer Games said, “VEX Robotics has grown exponentially over the last five years. As a coach and school faculty member (McKinley High School), I know first-hand the value of robotics to our students. Our volunteer planning committee has the knowledge, experience and passion to ensure the inaugural international VEX Robotics Summer Games becomes a capstone event in the robotics world.”
More information about the VEX Robotics Summer Games, the U.S. Open, the VEX Robotics Competition World Championship and other events can be found at www.robotevents.com.
About the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation
The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization, seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the U.S. and internationally. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry and the nonprofit community to achieve this work. For more information, please visit www.recf.org or www.robotevents.com.
About the Friends of Hawaii Robotics
Friends of Hawaii Robotics is a registered, Hawaii 501(c)(3) not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that supports Hawaii schools nine robotics programs. Recognizing the importance of promoting robotics at an early age and sustaining students’ interest in STEM education, “Friends” volunteer Board of Directors is laser-focused in their dedication to Hawaii’s students in elementary, middle and high school. Their mission and year-round commitment is to create opportunities for students to develop essential 21st-century life skills, preparing them to become Hawaii’s leaders of tomorrow. For more information, visit www.friendsofhawaiirobotics.org
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