WVU Statler College crowns winners of VEX Robotics Competitions

Middle School teams participate in the first annual VEX Robotics Competition at the WVU Statler College.

The group of winners are labeled as high school and middle school winners. 

For the first time, West Virginia University’s Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources hosted the VEX Robotics Competition on February 18-19. The event was sponsored by the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.  

Story by Brittany Furbee, Communications Specialist
Photos and videos by Paige Nesbit, Director of Marketing

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

“We were thrilled to host the inaugural VEX competition at the College,” said Julie Gruber, outreach coordinator for the Statler College. “The VEX Robotics Competition allows students to fully immerse themselves in engineering, creative problem solving, design and teamwork. We hope that these students will be inspired to become the next generation of engineers and computer scientists in the state.”  

For the competition, students were given a challenge in advance and had to design, build, program and drive a robot to complete the challenge as best as they could. More than 50 teams comprised of hundreds of middle and high school students competed in a variety of bracket style elimination tournaments throughout the weekend in order to declare the winners.   

Middle School Division Awards: 

Team Steel Devils lll from Bridge Street Middle in Wheeling won the excellence award and were crowned winners of the robot skills competition and one of the tournament champions. Team Steel Devils Vl from the same school were also tournament champions and received the judges award. Team Robo-Raiders from Triadelphia Middle School in Wheeling won the design award.  

High School Division Awards: 

Team Iron Patriots Mk. 1 from Wheeling Park High School in Wheeling won the excellence award and were crowded winners of the robot skills competition and one of the tournament champions. Team Iron Patriots Mk. 4 from the same school were also tournament champions. Team You Spin me Right ‘Round from Ravenswood Highschool in Ravenswood won the design award and Team The Valley Project from Spring Valley High School in Huntington, won the judges award.  

“These teams, many of which visited our campus for the first time, dedicated countless hours to designing robots to play this game,” said Gruber. “While it takes a lot of trial and error, students left the competition with skills in coding and experience in perseverance, collaboration, and critical thinking.” 

The event was judged by the MAE chair, faculty members and graduate students. Winners of the middle school robotics competition received Engineering Challenge Camp scholarships and winners of the high school competition received Statler College scholarships.  

Winners from both divisions will also advance to the state robotics competition, where they will have the chance to move along to the regional competition. Ultimately the goal is to advance to the VEX Robotics World Championships, which will be held in Dallas, Texas on April 25-May 4. Currently, more than 23,000 VEX teams from upwards of 61 countries participate in over 2,500 robotics competitions worldwide in hopes of making it to the World Championships.  

VEX Robotics competitions and programs are managed by the Robotics Education and Competition Foundation. The RECF mission is to increase student engagement in science, technology, engineering, math, and computer science.  

For competition videos from February 18-19, visit Facebook and Instagram stories @WVUStatler.

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