EAST LANSING – More than 15,000 participants gathered at the Anaheim Convention Center in April to demonstrate their Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math skills by going head-to-head with custom-built and programmed robots at the VEX Robotics Championship.
Michigan State University sponsored seven of the 16 Michigan High School teams at the competition. The Haslett team beat out 430 teams from 27 countries and brought home the coveted VEX Robotics World Championship Excellence Award.
This is a major accomplishment for both Michigan and the country. Nik Buchholz, Hannah Kempel, Connor Rowley, Austin Scheerer and Matthew Watson, coaches Claus Buchholz and Kim Schramm, and ?Kitt? the robot were awarded the highest honor in the high school division. In the past six years, this is only the third high school team in the United States to win the Excellence Award.
?The VEX Excellence Award is a world-class honor that goes to the team with the most well-rounded VEX Robotics program,? said Drew Kim, assistant to the dean for recruitment, scholarship and K-12 outreach in the MSU College of Engineering. ?MSU is proud that one of the 34 teams that the university sponsors did so well at VEX World Games and is such an outstanding example of the science and engineering skills being developed here in our state.?
The Haslett VEW Raptors team has qualified and competed in the competition since its inception four years ago. Michigan, compared to other states, has a high number of school robotics teams. The state currently has the highest number of FIRST Robotics Competition teams in the nation, as well as a large and rapidly increasing number of teams in other robotics leagues. The Youthville Detroit Robotics Team also made it to the quarterfinals and other Michigan teams competed in the math divisions at the event.
The VRC event is another a great way that STEM skills are being practiced in a fun, educational way. It gives a chance for students to apply learning in a non-traditional classroom setting with an exciting Global competition.
Associate Editor Nicole Johnson leads MITechNews.Com?s efforts to foster STEM education, as well as provides coverage for her fellow women in computing. If you have a story idea for Nicole, email [email protected] Follow Nicole on Twitter: @tech_nicole
