GREENVILLE, TX – February 11, 2015 – The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation is pleased to announce the Southern California VEX Robotics State Championship to be held at the Pasadena Convention Center on February 14, 2015. The event is expected to attract 76 teams with students from elementary, middle and high school competing in the VEX IQ Challenge and the VEX Robotics Competition for a full day of robotics matches sponsored locally by the Northrop Grumman Foundation, Chevron, and EMC Corporation. Over the last year in California, the VEX IQ Challenge and the VEX Robotics Competition have grown from approximately 680 teams last season to include more than 800 teams this year.
“Participation in the VEX IQ Challenge and the VEX Robotics Competition in California continues to grow and we are thrilled to offer two state championships this year to support that growth,” said Jason Morrella, President, the REC Foundation. “I’ve seen firsthand how students successfully master science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts through participation in robotics engineering programs. Efforts like this are critical in preparing students for future pursuit of STEM education and careers to support the global economy.”
The REC Foundation’s have grown by several thousand teams each year for the past four years and in order to accommodate the significant number of new teams the Foundation expects to add a number of state events in the coming years, offering students more opportunities to compete locally.
The Southern California VEX Robotics State Championship is one of a series of VEX IQ Challenges and VEX Robotics Competitions taking place internationally throughout the year. VEX Robotics is the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics program for elementary, middle, and high school and college students around the world, with nearly 12,000 teams from 32 countries that participate in almost 1,000 competitions worldwide. Students design, build and compete with robots at local, state and regional events as they seek to qualify for the highly anticipated VEX Robotics World Championship, presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation and the REC Foundation, which will take place April 15-18, 2015 in Louisville, Ky.
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 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.