What do you get when you combine 800+ students, 130 schools, 275+ volunteers, and a love for STEM education? One colossal robotics competition! The third annual City of Indianapolis VEX Robotics Championship was held November 15–16. This local VEX robotics competition is the largest in the country, including high school, middle school, and elementary school students.
“Indy has the largest city-wide robotics competition in the nation,” Indianapolis Mayor, Gregory A. Ballard said. “The impact this event has on students lasts far beyond their time in school. Students are engaged in subjects that will help them succeed in college and careers later in life. Congratulations to this year’s winners and to every student who participated this year.”
Students from the winning high school team in the IndyVRC receive scholarships from the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, a trophy, and will compete in the VEX Robotics High School World Championship. This year, the team from Speedway High School won this top honor and will travel this April to Louisville, Kentucky to compete in the championship.
ms also had the pleasure of participating in this amazing event! Jay Thorne, P.E. (ms Indianapolis) is a member of the IndyVRC planning committee and was appointed this year to the newly created advisory board. Jay served as the Judge Advisor for the competition, overseeing and training all the competition judges.
Robotics competitions tasks teams of students with designing and building a robot that will then compete against other teams in game-based engineering challenges. Students combine key skills such as teamwork, leadership, and communication with their STEM learnings to compete in these challenges. Robotics competitions across the nation encourage STEM education outside of the classroom and for years to come!
Visit the IndyVRC 2014 page for more details and photos from the event.
Congratulations to all participants and thank you to all volunteers and sponsors contributing to furthering STEM education!