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STEM Hero

Shivakumar Venkataraman

About
STEM Hall of Fame profile picture for Shivakumar Venkataraman inducted in 2022.
Details
Award: STEM Hero
Year: 2022
Organization: Google
Location: California

Shivakumar Venkataraman, 52, is from Hyderabad. In 1990, he graduated in computer science engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai.

Venkataraman went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a doctorate in computer science. He then started his professional journey as a summer intern at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, before moving on to IBM as a software engineer.

Venkataraman joined Google in 2003, and eventually assumed responsibility for its core search advertisement business. In January, he was promoted to vice president of the recently-revived division Google Labs, which is home to the company’s research into virtual and augmented reality, more than a decade after it was discontinued.

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2025-2026 Signature Event Updates

  1. An Event Partner wanting to apply to host a Signature Event must have hosted events for at least 2 seasons prior to applying. 
  2. Signature Events must use the officially branded award banners for the Excellence Award and Tournament/Teamwork Champions Award.
  3. When hanging field skirts the VEX Robotics logo/brand name can not be covered up on the competition fields.
  4. VEX V5 Robotics Competition Signature Events may have regional capacity and max per organization restrictions lifted 8 weeks before the event if the event is not full (similar to the process already in place for VEX IQ Robotics Competition Signature Events).
  5. Minimum pit size reduced to 8’x 8’ instead of 10’x10’.
  6. Beginning in the 2025-2026 season, the REC Foundation will collect $10 instead of $5 per team registration on all Signature Events. This is to help offset travel costs for REC Foundation staff to support these larger events.
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