More than 80 high school and middle school teams, nearly double the amount from last year, are expected to participate in the 5th Annual SME-EF Marion Area Vex Qualifier March 1, 2013 in the Alber Student Center, located on the Marion Technical College/Ohio State University Marion campus at 1467 Mount Vernon Avenue.
“Five years ago we had 8 teams, this event just keeps growing,” said Ritch Ramey, one of the event organizers. From this event six teams will qualify for the World Vex Robotics Competition in Anaheim, CA in April 18-21. There will also be several scholarships awarded.
“Vex Robotics is a system that offers students an exciting platform for learning about areas rich with career opportunities spanning science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM),” explained Ramey. “VEX Robotics helps schools focus on practical, affordable and accessible ways to deliver hands-on STEM educational experiences for as many students as possible.”
Ramey said the Vex contests create competitive environments that increase the motivation and desire for students to succeed. Vex Robotics allows knowledge and skill development to flourish without having to compromise one for the other.
“The challenge worldwide is that there are not enough students choosing the STEM pathway to meet the growing need for new scientists, engineers and problem solving leaders,” explained Ramey. “When teens are involved in Vex you can watch them grow in all of these areas and many will opt to go into a STEM career.”
“Vex Robotics mixes the excitement and motivation of competition with real-world applications of math and science concepts through the use of the engineering design process, said Ramey. “Vex focuses on addressing current educational and society needs on many levels. You have to watch an event to fully understand how competitive and innovative the participants are.”
When the teams arrive at the event, their robots will be inspected. They will then be split into two separate brackets. There will be four competitive rings. Each team will compete in at least 6 qualifying rounds before alliances are chosen. Each bracket will have their own tournament and tournament winners from each bracket will compete for the overall winner.
Awards include:
The 3 team alliance winners, Excellence winner and Design Award winners will have their registration for the World competition paid by the RAMTEC Ohio Vex Robotics League and its sponsors.
The SME-EF Sack Attack Tournament Champions- WQS (World Qualifying Spot) & Trophies (3)
The DeVry University Excellence Award- paid world WQS entry & Trophy
The Depco LLC Design Award- $750 WQS registration and sponsor 16 teams shirts at & Trophy
The National Robotics Challenge Tournament Finalist-Trophies (3)
The Ohio State University Marion Engineering Judge’s Award- $1,000 Scholarships (3) & Trophy
The Marion Technical College Programming Challenge Award- $150 Scholarships (3) & Trophy
The Marion Community Foundation Skills Challenge Award-Trophy
The RAMTEC Jr.-High Excellence Award-WQS & Trophy (If there are 15 Jr.-High Teams Competing)
The Edward Huber Innovation Award- Trophy
The United States Air Force STEM Award- Will pay top two ranked winning teams registration to Worlds.
This event, is sponsored by: SME-EF (Society of Manufacturing Engineers Education Foundation), AMTEC (Automotive Manufacturing Technical Education Collaborative), Marion City Schools, Marion Technical College, DEPCO LLC, RAMTEC (Robotics & Advanced Manufacturing Technology Education Collaborative), The National Robotics Challenge, Tri-Rivers Career Center, The Ohio State University Marion Engineering Department, US Yachiyo, HONDA of America, SolidWorks, United States Air Force, Marion Community Foundation and DeVry University.
To learn more about the Marion Area Vex Competitions visit ramtecohio.com and click on Vex Robotics. To learn more about the Vex Education process visit vexrobotics.com.
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