On Saturday, February 17, Manchester Community College (MCC) hosted the annual NH/VT State Championship VEX Robotics Competition for high school students, kicking off a weekend of robotics events on campus. On Sunday, elementary and middle school students compete in the VEX IQ Challenge. The top 80 teams from New Hampshire and Vermont competed for an invitation to the VEX World Championship.
The program teaches STEM skills to students while training the next generation of engineers and high-tech leaders how to compete using creativity, science and a spirit of competition.
“Manchester Community College has seen the growth and increased interest in robotics engineering programs on a local level and we are thrilled to support students’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics,” says Dan Larochelle, Advanced Manufacturing and Robotics Professor at MCC.
Metal experts Macy Industries has partnered with MCC Robotics the past two years in an effort to grow the VEX program in NH. This year the VEX IQ Challenge was introduced to NH allowing more competitions to inspire young minds and expand opportunities for students to explore STEM careers. “Macy Industries is passionate about supporting programs like VEX and they are helping MCC to market this opportunity to students and employers around the state”, says Larochelle.
Six VEX Robotics Competition teams and nine VEX IQ Challenge teams earned invitations to the VEX World Championship. Macy Industries is generously sponsoring three of these teams, two from St Joe’s Junior High School and one from St Anthony elementary school.
If your company would like to help get these teams to the World Championship, they have set up a Go Fund Me page. If you would like to support the MCC Community Outreach program, more information is available on their website.
The VEX Competitions are among the world’s fastest growing competitive robotics programs for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges around the world, now approaching 20,000 teams in over 45 countries. Organized by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation, the competition season culminates each spring, with the VEX Robotics World Championship, a highly anticipated event presented by the Northrop Grumman Foundation and the REC Foundation, which unites top qualifying teams from local, state, and international VEX Robotics events to crown World Champions. For details on additional upcoming events, visit www.RobotEvents.com. For more information about the REC Foundation, go to www.RoboticsEducation.org.
