It was our pleasure, this issue, to catch up to Cliff Zintgraff, CEO of DaVinci Minds, Inc., to learn how his San Antonio, Texas based company is using VEX Robotics in core classroom curriculum to prepare students to become tomorrow’s innovators. DaVinci Minds offers products and services for middle schools, high schools, community colleges and universities in a broad array of programs that center on the intersection of technology, education and workforce development. This interview focuses on an important and quickly expanding high school course titled Analytical Integrated Math (AIM). AIM was developed by a partnership including DaVinci Minds and other K-12, college and curriculum development partners. AIM has become a keystone curriculum for high school seniors that simultaneously addresses the needs of students, teachers and the community.

Read the entire article here. (PDF)

PLTW to Offer Rigorous Hands-on, Project-Based Robotics Lessons for Middle School and High School Students — Classrooms may Begin Using VEX Robotics Equipment in 2011-2012; PLTW Students Gain Access to VEX Robotics Competitions Throughout the Country

CLIFTON PARK, NY – Project Lead the Way (PLTW), the nation’s leading provider of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education, announced a new partnership with VEX Robotics, Inc. today that gives current and future PLTW schools new, exciting and cutting-edge opportunities both inside and outside the classroom.

Under the agreement, the VEX Robotics Design System will be the exclusive robotics platform offered to PLTW schools by PLTW, bringing exciting new opportunities for students including the chance to take PLTW’s courses that have been updated with rigorous hands-on, project based robotics lessons. It is nearly impossible in today’s society not to come into contact with a robotics device and PLTW’s robotics lessons provide students with an introduction to this important STEM field and offer students more advanced and innovative solutions to their classroom projects. PLTW schools may begin using VEX Robotics equipment during the 2011-2012 school year.

In addition, every PLTW classroom will have access to participate in the VEX Robotics Competition, the largest and fastest growing middle and high school robotics competition in the world, allowing students to apply their robotics knowledge from the classroom in a unique, problem-solving environment.

“Robotics is not only an important field of study for students interested in pursuing careers in STEM related fields but also integrates the critical and innovative thinking skills that are the foundation for any intellectual pursuit,” said John Lock, CEO of PLTW. “The majority of robotics programs for students are either after school or during weekend competitions, but now PLTW students have the opportunity to experience the hands-on, project based robotics curriculum in the classroom just like math or science. These problem-solving skills are exactly what students have to develop to be successful in today’s 21st century economy. We are looking forward to working with VEX to create the world’s next generation of innovators.”

The PLTW program shows students the real-world relevancy of what they are learning in the classroom and gets them excited about solving the world’s grand challenges. PLTW is constantly looking to bring the most up to date materials, equipment and cutting-edge technology into the classroom so that students have the opportunity to design and create their projects with the same tools that the industry leaders use in the workplace.

“PLTW is engaging students in STEM education as effectively as any program in the country,” said Paul Copioli, president of VEX Robotics, Inc. “VEX Robotics is very proud to support PLTW’s mission of preparing students to be the most innovative and productive in the world. This partnership exposes hundreds of thousands of new students to the VEX Robotics Design System both in the classroom and in after-school competitions and we look forward to working with PLTW to increase access to many more students in the years to come.”

About VEX Robotics and Innovation First International

VEX Robotics, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Innovation First International, is a leading provider of educational robotics products to middle schools, high schools and colleges around the world. The VEX Robotics Design System, winner of the 2006 Best of Innovations Award at CES, was built from the ground up and designed to be an affordable, accessible and scalable platform used to teach science, technology, engineering and math education worldwide. The company has over 250 man years of experience supporting educational robotics programs and extensive engineering resources on two continents dedicated to the VEX Robotics platform. For more information on the VEX Robotics Design System, visit www.vexrobotics.com.

The company also partners with the non-profit Robotics Education & Competition foundation to support the VEX Robotics Competition, the largest and fastest growing middle and high school robotics competition in the world. Started in 2007, the VEX Robotics Competition is designed to give a diverse group of students the chance to celebrate their accomplishments and share their passion for robotics with each other. In 2010, 2,500 teams from 20 countries participated in over 200 VEX Robotics Competition events worldwide. For more information on the VEX Robotics Competition, visit RobotEvents.com.

In 2010, Innovation First International added offices in Hong Kong, China, the United Kingdom and Canada to better serve the global marketplace. With an advanced in-house metal fabrication plant, distribution center and corporate office located together in a 13-acre complex in Greenville, Texas, the company is poised to continue on a rapid growth path. Please visit www.innovationfirst.com for additional information.

About Project Lead The Way

Project Lead The Way, Inc., is a national, non-profit organization that is the leading provider of rigorous and innovative STEM education curricular programs used in K-12 schools. The PLTW comprehensive curriculum, which is collaboratively developed by PLTW teachers, university educators, engineering and biomedical professionals, and school administrators, emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, innovation and real-world problem solving. The hands-on, project-based program engages students on multiple levels, exposes them to areas of study that they typically do not pursue, and provides them with a foundation and proven path to college and career success. PLTW began in 1998 in 12 high schools in upstate New York as a program designed to address the shortage of engineering students at the college level and has grown to a network of approximately 4,000 middle and high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia. More than 350,000 students are expected to take a PLTW course during the coming school year. For more information, visit www.pltw.org.

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Having quit medical school to be an entrepreneur, she has since widened the minds of many kids and teens through VEX Robotics. Ilylia believes that robotics can stimulate a child’s mind as pieces are put together to develop the structure of the robot, keeping in mind movement and flexibility of the design.

View an image of the full article here.

Learn more about Ilylia’s efforts in Malaysia at the Robotics Learning Web site.

Auburn, Alabama – June 30, 2010 – BEST (“Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology”) Robotics, Inc., a non-profit robotics competition with national headquarters at Auburn University, has announced a multi-year partnership with VEX Robotics, Inc. BEST will adopt the company’s powerful new wireless VEXnet control system, which includes the VEX Cortex microcontroller, VEXnet joystick and compatible programming software. BEST will continue to utilize the company sponsored RobotEvents.com web portal to promote competition events and handle online team registration.

“Integrating the state-of-the-art VEXnet control system into our competition will allow BEST students across the U.S. to expand their technological skills, which will increase their interest in pursuing high-tech, well-paying careers in engineering, science, and technology,” said Dr. George Blanks, Executive Director of BEST and Director of K-12 Outreach in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University. “The VEX control system and event registration portal lift a burden off of our all-volunteer organization. The partnership allows us to focus our resources on growing the competition across the U.S. to better serve the needs of students, schools, and industry.”

VEX Robotics also brings its robot programming software partners into the agreement. Intelitek, developer of easyC, and The Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University, developer of ROBOTC, will donate licenses of their software to every BEST team.

BEST is an equal opportunity program in which any public, private, or home school may participate with no entry fees or kit costs. Schools are only required to fund their travel costs, team tee shirts, and other team enhancements. The partnership with VEX Robotics, Inc. a subsidiary of Innovation First International, allows BEST teams and hubs to sell the parent company’s popular HEXBUG Micro Robotic Creatures for fundraising at a profit to offset these incidental expenses.

“VEX Robotics is very proud to support the growth of the BEST Robotics Competition. This is in line with our objectives and clearly establishes VEX as the dominant platform supplier for educational robotics in both the classroom and after-school competitions across multiple academic disciplines,” said Paul Copioli, president of VEX Robotics, Inc. “VEX allows BEST to continually offer the latest in educational robotics technology while encouraging the current installed base of VEX schools to begin participating in the unique BEST competition.”

About BEST Robotics, Inc.

BEST Robotics is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization whose mission is to engage, excite, and inspire middle and high school students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers through participation in a sports-like robotics competition. Started in 1993 as a competition for 14 area schools in rural Sherman, Texas, BEST has become the largest school-based robotics competition in the U.S.—and the only one free to schools—with with over 850 schools, 12,000 students, and 4000 volunteers participating at 41 licensed competition sites in 15 states. BEST licenses its program to organizations, colleges and universities, or groups of individuals.

The program recently held its first ever national championship in conjunction with the VEX Robotics World Championship held at the Dallas Convention Center in April 2010. For more information about BEST Robotics, visit http://best.eng.auburn.edu or RobotEvents.com.

About VEX Robotics, Inc. and Innovation First International:

VEX Robotics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Innovation First International, a privately held corporation, which was founded on the belief that innovation very early in the design process is necessary to produce simple and elegant product designs. Innovation First International began producing electronics for unmanned mobile ground robots and is now an industry leader in the hobby, competition, education and toy markets.

The company’s three major subsidiaries, VEX Robotics, Inc., Innovation First Labs, Inc. (makers of HEXBUG Micro Robotic Creatures), and RackSolutions, Inc. span the education, consumer and business-to-business markets. The company has over 250 man years of experience supporting educational robotics programs and extensive engineering resources on two continents dedicated to the VEX Robotics platform.

Leveraging the company’s core competency in electrical and mechanical engineering, the RackSolutions division works closely with all major computer OEMs to provide custom mounting solutions and industry-wide rack compatibility for data installations of all sizes.

In the 2009 the company added offices in Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom to better serve the global marketplace. With an advanced in-house metal fabrication plant, distribution center and corporate office located together in a 13-acre complex in Greenville, Texas, the company is poised to continue on a rapid growth path. Please visit www.innovationfirst.com for additional information.

Click here to download this release in PDF format.

Robotics Education & Competition Veteran to Lead Non-Profit

Sterling Heights, Mich. – June 16, 2010 – The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation, looking to continue as a leader in promoting science, technology, education and math (STEM) based initiatives in both the classroom and extracurricular activities, has named Jason Morrella as president.

Morrella brings more than 15 years of experience in education, robotics competition development and event management and is a distinguished leader among the educational and competitive robotics communities. He joins the REC Foundation after having served as Senior Director of Education and Competition for Innovation First, Inc., where he led the development of the VEX Robotics Competition program and oversaw its explosive growth in becoming the largest middle and high school robotics competition in the world. Before IFI, Jason spent eight years as a Regional Director for FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), where he helped to aggressively grow the program throughout the western United States, build a sustainable base of supported events and was a member of the FRC Game Design Committee. Prior to FIRST, Jason was an award-winning educator in California, and received the 1998-1999 San Jose Unified School District Teacher of the Year Award.

“The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation’s mission is to identify, support and work with successful, high quality, technology-based programs that promote STEM education for students,” said Morrella, president of the REC Foundation. “I look forward to collaborating with members from technology education and robotics organizations to ensure that high-quality robotics and technology programs are accessible to every student at every school.”

The REC Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, supports robotics and technology events and programs that aim to inspire and motivate students to advance in STEM education. In addition to supporting competitions for some of the world’s leading robotics platforms and organizations including VEX, TSA, BOTBALL and BEST Robotics Competitions, the foundation also provides program support and workshops focused on technology and professional development for educators – including the RobotEvents.com community portal website which helps promote multiple high quality programs and provides online registration and event pages for hundreds of events around the world.

Please visit RobotEvents.com to learn more about the high quality programs supported by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation.

Information Contact: info@RobotEvents.com

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Duzant’s project, “The VEX Robotics Challenge for Engineering and Mechanical Design for Applied Robotics Technology,” focuses on the center of gravity of robots equipped with mechanical arms. Duzant hopes that his work can carry over to preventing automobiles from tipping over and planes and helicopters from spiraling out of control.

The prize associated with Duzant’s award is a renewable, annual scholarship to the Florida Institute of Technology.

Congratulations!

Read the full article on Duzant from the Baltimore Sun.

More information on the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

MythBusters’ Grant Imahara Inspires Students at Global Robotics Competition

Dallas, Texas – April 26, 2010 – Winners of the VEX Robotics Competition World Championship were crowned this weekend by Grant Imahara, host of the Discovery Channel’s hit show MythBusters. Shanghai’s Luwan high school team and New Zealand’s Free Range Robotics and Kristin Doves teams triumphed as the winning alliance after defeating nearly 400 teams through multiple rounds of intense competition. Elite VEX teams from middle schools, high schools and universities representing 14 countries competed at the Dallas Convention Center on April 22-24 with innovative robots they designed and built using the VEX Robotics Design System.

The VEX robots were engineered to play the game “Clean Sweep” with students applying their programming skills and strategic thinking to defeat the opposition. Participants of the VEX program compete throughout the year and learn critical life skills including leadership, teamwork and technical problem solving. Richard Paul, captain of the Free Range Robotics team from the winning alliance said, “VEX Robotics has taught us how to work together in high pressure situations. We’re now better prepared to handle challenges because we’ve learned how to approach problems with different solutions.”

The VEX Robotics Competition World Championship included qualifying teams from 14 countries including Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States for three days of non-stop, high-energy robotics challenges. The VEX Robotics program is the largest and fastest growing middle and high school robotics competition in the world, featuring 200 events with 2,600 teams representing 20 countries.

“At the VEX Robotics World Championship, students get to be the stars and are celebrated for applying what they learn in the classroom,” said Paul Copioli, president of VEX Robotics. “Our commitment is to engage students in science, technology, engineering and math education to get them excited about pursuing technology careers.”

In addition to the middle and high school championship, China’s Mianyang Normal University earned the College Championship title. Several teams also received prestigious awards for Robotic Skills, Programming Skills, and Excellence Awards. In the High School Division, Green Egg Robotics team #44 from Oakham, Massachusetts received the Robot Skills Award and Currahee team #1103 from Orwell, Ohio garnered the Programming Skills Award. In the Middle School Division, the Design Award went to Singapore team #8059A, while the esteemed overall Design Award went to Whitney High School Robotics #542 from Cerritos, California. Excellence Awards were presented for the top overall robotics programs and were awarded to high school team #1509 from Ridley College in Ontario, Canada; Pearl City Hawaii Highlands Intermediate Middle School team #394; and a college team made up of students from Drexel and Temple Universities out of Exton, PA.

BEST Robotics, a middle and high school robotics program established in 1993, hosted its national championship in conjunction with the VEX Robotics World Championship, where Metro Homeschool team 229 from Blue Springs, Missouri won the first place BEST Award. The BEST Award is the highest honor that any team can receive, and goes to the team that best embodies the spirit of the BEST program. Meanwhile, Conway High School team 185 from Conway, Missouri earned first place in the Robotics Award, for having scored the most points in the game, including preliminary, semi-final, and championship matches.

Partnering with Innovation First International as presenting co-sponsors are Autodesk, NASA, EMC Corporation and the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation. Additional supporting partners include Technology Students Association (TSA), Intelitek, Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University, FUTURE Foundation, ST Micro, MathWorks, ID Tech Camps, and Hyatt Regency Dallas.

The 2010/2011 game VEX Round Up was also unveiled at the VEX Robotics World Championship. The game is played on a 12’x12’ square field and two alliances – one “red” and one “blue” – composed of two teams. Each alliance competes in matches consisting of a twenty-second autonomous period followed by two minutes of driver controlled play. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by placing tubes upon goalposts, owning goalposts, and by low hanging or high hanging from the ladder.

For more information about the VEX Robotics World Championship and all other award winners, please visit RobotEvents.com.

About VEX Robotics, Inc. and Innovation First International:
VEX Robotics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Innovation First International, a privately held corporation, which was founded on the belief that innovation very early in the design process is necessary to produce simple and elegant product designs. Innovation First International began producing electronics for unmanned mobile ground robots and is now an industry leader in the hobby, competition, education and toy markets.

The company’s three subsidiaries, VEX Robotics, Inc., Innovation First Labs, Inc. (makers of HEXBUG Micro Robotic Creatures), and RackSolutions, Inc. span the education, consumer and business-to-business markets. The VEX Robotics Competition was launched in 2007, designed to give a diverse group of students the chance to celebrate their accomplishments and share their passion for robotics with each other.

Leveraging the company’s core competency in electrical and mechanical engineering, the RackSolutions division works closely with all major computer OEMs to provide custom mounting solutions and industry-wide rack compatibility for data installations of all sizes.

In the 2009 the company added offices in Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom to better serve the global marketplace. With an advanced in-house metal fabrication plant, distribution center and corporate office located together in a 13-acre complex in Greenville, Texas, the company is poised to continue on a rapid growth path. Please visit www.innvationfirst.com for additional information.

Click here to download a PDF version of this release.

Mythbusters Engineering Savant Grant Imahara Set to Emcee Final Day of International Robotics Competition

Greenville, Texas- April 20, 2010- More than 3,000 leading middle school, high school and university VEX robotics students and mentors representing 14 countries from around the world will unite at the Dallas Convention Center and Arena on April 22-24, 2010 for the highly anticipated VEX Robotics Competition World Championship. To match the growing popularity of the VEX Robotics Competition, having tripled in size since its inception in 2008, Grant Imahara, from The Discovery Channel’s hit series Mythbusters, is scheduled to kick-off the final day of competition as emcee on Saturday, April 24th.

The tournament was designed as a vehicle for students to develop critical life skills such as teamwork, leadership and project management, honed through building robots and competing with like-minded students from around the world in a fun, non-traditional environment. “The technological economy of the future depends on equipping today’s youth with the tools necessary to become tomorrow’s leading innovators,” said Paul Copioli, president of VEX Robotics. “The World Championship provides a global arena for us to support and celebrate the accomplishments of these young, diverse and enthusiastic minds.”

The VEX Robotics Competition World Championship is the pinnacle event for 400 of the most elite teams that qualified for a spot at the Dallas competition by excelling in one of the more than 200 VEX Robotics tournaments that took place from May 2009 to April 2010. Teams from around the world are tasked with programming and designing robots, using the industry’s leading VEX Robotics Design System, and forming strategic alliances as they challenge their toughest competitors playing the game Clean Sweep.

Clean Sweep is played on a 12’x12’ square field where two alliances composed of two teams compete against one another. Each match consists of a twenty-second autonomous operation where robots are controlled by onboard software, followed by two minutes of human-operated play. VEX Robotics offers students an exciting platform for learning about areas rich with career opportunities spanning science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and encourages teamwork, leadership and problem solving among groups.

The VEX Robotics Competition is being co-hosted by Innovation First International and the non-profit Robotics Education & Competition Foundation whose mission is to work with a variety of successful, technology-based programs that promote STEM education for students, including VEX, TSA and BEST Robotics Competitions. In total there are more than 2,600 VEX Robotics teams, making it the largest middle and high school robotics program in the world.

Presenting co-sponsors of the VEX Robotics Competition World Championship include Autodesk Inc., NASA, EMC Corporation and the FUTURE Foundation. Additional supporting partners include Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation, Technology Students Association (TSA), Intelitek, Robotics Academy at Carnegie Mellon University, ST Micro, MathWorks, ID Tech Camps, and Hyatt Regency Dallas. In conjunction with the middle and high school VEX robotics challenges, more than 30 university teams will be vying for world champion title in the VEX Robotics College Challenge. Meanwhile, VEX Robotics is also hosting 12 of the top BEST Robotics teams to compete at the Dallas Convention Center in its National Championship Competition. BEST Robotics Inc. is a non-profit, volunteer-based organization headquartered at Auburn University (AL).

About VEX Robotics, Inc. and Innovation First International:

VEX Robotics, Inc. is a subsidiary of Innovation First International, a privately held corporation, which was founded on the belief that innovation very early in the design process is necessary to produce simple and elegant product designs. Innovation First began producing electronics for unmanned mobile ground robots and is now an industry leader in the hobby, competition, education and toy markets.  The company’s three subsidiaries, VEX Robotics, Inc., Innovation First Labs, Inc. (makers of HEXBUG Micro Robotic Creatures), and RackSolutions, Inc. span the education, consumer and business-to- business markets. The VEX Robotics Competition was launched in 2007, designed to give a diverse group of students the chance to celebrate their accomplishments and share their passion for robotics with each other.

Leveraging the company’s core competency in electrical and mechanical engineering, the RackSolutions division works closely with all major computer OEMs to provide custom mounting solutions and industry- wide rack compatibility for data installations of all sizes.

In 2009 the company added offices in Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom to better serve the global marketplace. With an advanced in-house metal fabrication plant, distribution center and corporate office located together in a 13-acre complex in Greenville, Texas, the company is poised to continue on a rapid growth path. Please visit www.innovationfirst.com for additional information.

Click here to download release in PDF.

Greenville, Texas – January 6, 2010 – Innovation First International announced today that Paul Copioli has been named president of VEX Robotics, Inc.   This newly formed and wholly owned subsidiary of Innovation First International and the position of president have been created to accelerate and manage the global expansion of the VEX Robotics Design System and related programs.

Mr. Copioli has more than 16 years experience in robotics, engineering and management and a strong background in competition robotics for education.  After receiving his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering from the US Air Force Academy, he received a Masters degree in engineering from the University of Michigan.  He joined Innovation First after working for Lockheed Martin and subsequently heading the mechanical product development group at FANUC Robotics America.  A long time mentor to school robotics teams, Mr. Copioli was recognized in 2005 by FIRST as the national Woodie Flowers Award winner.  The highest honor among mentors in the FIRST robotics community, the award celebrates effective communication in the art and science of engineering and design.

“Paul is a tremendous talent and is well respected as a leader among the professional and educational robotics communities,” said Tony Norman, president and CEO of Innovation First International.   “He is well suited to lead the further global expansion of VEX Robotics and the new corporate structure will allow us to focus our resources toward this end.”

“There is a pressing need to involve more students in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs,” said Paul Copioli, president of VEX Robotics.  “VEX has proven to be a powerful catalyst to engage and motivate students and educators alike.  I look forward to serving the wide range of students, classroom teachers and organizers of co-curricular and extracurricular robotics competition programs currently using the VEX platform.  I’m also excited to lead the expansion of our global distribution network to reach even more students.”

The VEX Robotics Design System was launched in 2005 and has expanded rapidly in the United States and beyond.  VEX is the platform of choice for many middle and high schools that have adopted robotics in the classroom and for extracurricular competitions.   Intelitek, Carnegie Mellon and Autodesk have each developed extensive classroom curriculum based on VEX and are authorized resellers of the product line.  To meet growing global demand, the company is currently setting up additional sales and distribution partnerships in Europe and Asia.

The VEX Robotics Competition is the largest and fastest growing middle and high school robotics program globally with more than 2,000 teams from 20 countries playing in over 170 tournaments worldwide. The VEX Robotics Design System is affordable, robust and offers an assortment of over 200 of the most advanced educational robotics products available today.  See www.vexrobotics.com for more information on the VEX Robotics Design System and the VEX Robotics Competition.

About Innovation First International

Innovation First International, a privately held corporation, was founded on the belief that innovation very early in the design process is necessary to produce simple and elegant product designs. Innovation First began producing electronics for unmanned mobile ground robots and is now an industry leader in the hobby, competition, education and toy markets. The company’s award winning VEX Robotics Design System, HEXBUG Micro Robotic Creatures and RackSolutions span the education, consumer and business-to-business markets. In 2007, the company launched www.RobotEvents.com, an online portal dedicated to the advancement of educational and competitive robotics, which provides comprehensive information on the latest robotics competitions, educational workshops and information for teachers and mentors. The company also created the VEX Robotics Competition in 2007, designed to give a diverse group of students the chance to celebrate their accomplishments and share their passion for robotics with each other. Leveraging the company’s core competency in electrical and mechanical engineering, the RackSolutions division works closely with all major computer OEMs to provide custom mounting solutions and industry-wide rack compatibility for data installations of all sizes. In 2009 the company added offices in Hong Kong, China, and the United Kingdom to better serve the global marketplace. With an advanced in-house metal fabrication plant, distribution center, and corporate office located together in a 13 acre complex in Greenville, Texas, the company is poised to continue on a rapid growth path. Please visit www.innovationfirst.com for additional information.

Download PDF of press release.

Students from Hawai‘i, U.S. mainland and China to test STEM skills

HONOLULU – Nearly 1,000 middle school and high school students from Hawai‘i, the U.S. Mainland and China will descend upon the Hawai‘i Convention Center this week, December 3 – 5, for the 2nd annual VEX Robotics Pan-Pacific Championship.  The event is free and open to the public.

The team-based robotics competition will put students’ engineering and high-tech skills to the test in three action-packed days of competition with robots created from the VEX Robotics Design System.

For the past several months, students, with guidance from their teachers and mentors, have been working together to build innovative robots designed to solve a set of difficult challenges presented in the game.  During the competition, 90 student teams from Hawai‘i, the mainland and China schools will square off in the game of “Clean Sweep.”

The object of the “Clean Sweep” challenge is for two-team alliances to maneuver their robots to place as many balls as possible onto their opponent’s side of the field and by “locking up” small balls in triangular goals.

This competition will qualify top teams to compete in two additional international tournaments.  Nine teams from the Pan-Pacific VEX Robotics Championship will qualify for the VEX Robotics World Championship in April in Dallas, Texas, and 17 teams will qualify for the CREATE Foundation Championship of the Americas VEX tournament in March, 2010 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Robotics education is a key component of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s Hawai‘i Innovation Initiative, which seeks to transform Hawai‘i’s economy from one based on land development to one based on the innovative capacity of Hawai‘i’s residents, especially our youth. Robotics provides students with a strong educational foundation in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and offers them opportunities to solve problems, work as teams and think analytically – skills useful in any career.
“The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa College of Engineering has been excited to see the tremendous enthusiasm for robotics and STEM education over the last decade,” said Dr. Song Choi, assistant dean, College of Engineering.

VEX Robotics is one of six major programs in which Hawai‘i students can participate.  The six programs include VEX, FIRST Robotics, FIRST LEGO League, Botball, Underwater Remote Operating Vehicle (ROV), and Micro Robotics.

Recognizing the importance of promoting robotics at an early age and sustaining students’ interest in STEM education throughout their schooling, the six robotics programs which previously operated autonomously joined together to form the Hawai‘i Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC) (www.robotics.hawaii.gov).  Under the ROC, all six of the robotics programs coordinate their efforts to promote robotics education in elementary, middle and high schools statewide.

As a result of this increased focus on robotics education, the number of robotics programs in Hawai‘i’s public, private and charter schools has increased dramatically in the past two years. Since January 2008, participation skyrocketed from 95 teams to 334 today – a 252% increase.  The growth has been facilitated by the tremendous support from all sectors of the community, including the Lingle-Aiona Administration; Hawai‘i businesses; engineering and technology associations; the University of Hawai‘i and community colleges statewide; the state’s public, private and charter school organizations; NASA; the U.S. military; and private citizens.

90 teams (nearly 1,000 students) from 47 Hawai‘i, U.S. Mainland and China schools will compete in the VEX Robotics Pan-Pacific Championship, December 3 – 5, at the Hawai‘i Convention Center:
O‘ahu
1. ‘Aiea Intermediate School
2. Dole Middle School
3. Hawai‘i Baptist Academy
4. Hawai‘i Technology Academy
5. Highlands Intermediate School
6. ’Iolani School
7. James Campbell High School
8. Kailua Intermediate
9. Kalaheo High School
10. Kalani High school
11. Kamehameha Schools High School Science Dept.
12. Kasier HS and Niu Valley MS
13. Leilehua High School
14. Maryknoll High School
15. McKinley High School
16. Mid-Pacific Institute
17. Mililani High School
18. Moanalua High School
19. Nānākuli High & Intermediate
20. Pearl City High School
21. Radford High School
22. St. Andrew’s Priory School
23. Stevenson Middle School
24. W.R. Farrington High School
25. Wahiawā Middle School
26. Waialua High & Intermediate School
27. Waipahu High School
28. Washington Middle School
29. Wheeler Middle School

Big Island
30. Hawai‘i Academy of Arts and Science
31. Hilo High School
32. Honoka’a High School
33. Kapa‘au Intermediate School
34. Kea‘au High School
35. Kohala High School
36. Konawaena High School
37. Waiākea Intermediate School
38. West Hawai‘i Explorations Academy

Maui
39. King Kekaulike High School
40. Lahainaluna High School

U.S. Mainland
41. Bellarmine College Prep
42. Chaminade College Prep
43. Hyde Park Middle School

China
44. Xuzhou Youth and Children’s Palace
45. High School Attached To Northeast Normal University
46. Nanning Minzhu Primary School
47. Changping Middle School in Dongguang City
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For more information, contact:

Corrie Heck
Executive Director
Robotics Organizing Committee (ROC)
Phone: (808) 586-0718

Note: To communicate directly with a VEX team, please contact Corrie Heck.