Greenville, TX – April 23, 2016 – More than 1,100 robotics teams from 30 nations gathered at VEX Worlds to compete during three days of intense back-to-back matches for the chance to become World Champions. In doing so, these 15,000 students broke the previously held GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the largest robotics competition! VEX Worlds, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation and the Northrop Grumman Foundation, is the culminating event of the season. Ultimately, teams from Canada, China, Puerto Rico, and the United States of America triumphed, taking home the highly coveted title of the VEX IQ Challenge Elementary & Middle School World Champions, the VEX Robotics Competition Middle & High School World Champions, and the VEX U World Champion.

“It’s inspiring to witness a variety of students from elementary through college display this level of problem-solving, teamwork, and engineering. By arming them with these life skills that will serve them well into the future, this program ensures that every student walks away a winner,” said Jason Morrella, President of the REC Foundation. “It’s been a record-breaking year all around for the REC Foundation. Not only does VEX Worlds now hold the record for the largest robotics competition ever held, but this year our program exceeded over 16,000 teams participating in over 1,300 competition events. We look forward to building on this momentum and providing more students and teachers access to high-quality, affordable, and sustainable programs like the VEX IQ Challenge, VEX Robotics Competition, and VEX U.”

VEX Worlds commenced on Thursday at the Kentucky Expo Center with a lively Parade of Nations, where students led a colorful procession into Freedom Hall, crossing the main stage, displaying their respective country’s flags. Immediately following the opening ceremony, teams began an intense afternoon of qualification matches and skills challenges. On Friday, the energy among the students was charged with excitement as teams competed and closed the day with the 2016-2017 New Game Reveals. By Saturday, qualification rounds ended and the top performing teams went through the alliance selection process before heading into finals and award ceremonies.

VEX Worlds is comprised of the top performing 1,100 teams (out of 16,000 teams), who qualified in one of the following five program divisions: VEX IQ Challenge Elementary School World Championship (ages 8-10), VEX IQ Challenge Middle School World Championship (ages 11-14), VEX Robotics Competition Middle School World Championship (ages 11-14), VEX Robotics Competition High School World Championship (ages 14-18) and VEX U (ages 18+).

Champions of the 2016 VEX Worlds are as follows:

VEX IQ Challenge Elementary School Teamwork Challenge Champions:

• 1140X, Discobots, from Brampton Robotics Education in Ontario, Canada
• 7008A, Robotic’s Legend, from Colegio Adianez in Puerto Rico

VEX IQ Challenge Middle School Teamwork Challenge Champions:

• 10543C, Bestic C, from Shanghai Bestic Education in Shanghai, China
• 323S, Skyhawk, from Cornerstone Robotics North in Indianapolis, IN

VEX Robotics Competition Middle School World Champions:

• 9388, Meilong & Ruiguan A, from Shanghai Meilong Middle School & Ruiguan Robot Unite in Shanghai, China
• 7449B, Nanmen PSch B, from Hefei Nanmen Primary School in Hefei, China
• 9698B, Gulou No.1B, from Fuzhou Gulou NO.1 Central Primary School in Fuzhou, China

VEX Robotics Competition High School World Champions:

• 8691E, Hefei No.8 SMSch E, from Hefei No.8 Senior Middle School in Hefei, China
• 1104M, Discobots, from Brampton Robotics Education in Ontario, Canada
• 400S, from Galveston I.S.D. Robotics in Galveston, TX

VEX U World Champion:

• VCAT2, from VCAT Robotics in Flushing, NY

One team from each of the five program divisions also received the Excellence Award, the highest honor at VEX Worlds, given to the team with the most well rounded VEX Robotics program. Team 2014, Sandpiper Cyborgs, from Sandpiper Elementary School in Redwood City, CA received the overall Excellence Award for the VEX IQ Challenge Elementary School Division. Team 77777, Robolink Chargers, from Robolink Inc. in San Diego, CA received the overall Excellence Award for the VEX IQ Challenge Middle School Division. Team 7268, Killer Monkeys, from Lakeside Middle School in Cumming, GA was presented with the overall Excellent Award for the VEX Robotics Competition Middle School Division. Team 2915, Lynfield College Robotics, from Lynfield College in Auckland, New Zealand received the Excellence Award for the overall VEX Robotics Competition High School Division. Team UTGZ3, from La Universidad Tecnológica de Gutiérrez Zamora, in Veracruz, MX received the overall Excellence Award for VEX U Division.

Several other technical and value-based awards were presented to teams throughout the event. For a complete list of award winners, including winners of the online challenges, visit www.robotevents.com/championship.

For those looking forward to getting a jump start on next year’s robot, the 2016-2017 season games will be the VEX IQ Challenge Crossover and the VEX Robotics Competition Starstruck.

Sponsors of VEX Worlds 2016 included the Northrop Grumman Foundation, Autodesk, Chevron, EMC Corporation, Harris Corporation, NASA, Texas Instruments, HEXBUG, RackSolutions and Innovation First International.

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. For more information, please visit www.RoboticsEducation.org or for details on upcoming events, please visit www.RobotEvents.com.