FALL RIVER – The 2017-18 Southeastern Vex Robotics Qualifier was held at Bristol Community College Jan. 6, according to the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation.
About 100 middle school and high school students from around the region took part in the competition, “In the Zone,” where two alliances form two teams each. The goal is to get a higher score than the opposition with different challenges, such as stacking cones on goals and parking robots, for example.
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The teams that won a Vex award have now qualified to move on to the Southern New England Qualifier in March, according to Meghan Abella-Bowen, associate dean for STEM initiatives at Bristol Community College.
Among the Vex tournament qualifiers was Durfee High School in Fall River, she said. Saint Philomena School in Portsmouth won a design award in the middle-school category, which means that team earned the highest score for its engineering notebook and team interview, and is “able to explain their design and strategy for building the robot, demonstrates personnel, time and resource management throughout the season, and teamwork and professionalism,” Abella-Bowen said in an email.
The REC Foundation calls the competition, which presents engineering challenges, the largest of its kind. It engages middle school and high school students from around the globe, with more than 18,000 teams across 40 countries, according to its website.
The foundation’s goal is to forge partnerships with more students in STEM topics – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – via more partnerships with education, government and industry groups, in the hope that students will pursue STEM coursework for a career.
Susan Shalhoub is a PBN contributor.
