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.