VEX IQ Robotics Competition national finals take place with support of Dell & MTU

The national finals of the 2022 VEX IQ Robotics Competition supported by Dell Technologies and Munster Technological University (MTU) took place today in Cork with over 170 primary school students from across the country bringing STEM learning to life by taking part in a game-based engineering challenge to design, code and build robots.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the VEX Robotics Competition in Ireland. Since its introduction in Cork the competition has expanded nationwide with over 250 primary as well as secondary students from all corners of Ireland this year engaging in STEM at the earliest opportunity.

Supported by Dell and MTU, the robotics challenge provides students with a fun, hands-on opportunity to build and programme robots in teams and face off with other competing schools across the country. Team members from Dell volunteer their time to support the VEX Robotics Competition.

Out of the 250 participating students in this year’s VEX IQ Robotics Competition, 24 schools qualified through to today’s final where teams competed for a spot at the global VEX Robotics Competition in Dallas.

The VEX IQ Robotics Competition begins in the classroom each year, with school children across Ireland working from September to December with their teacher to design, build and programme a robot. This process is assisted by members of the education community, local councils and industry stakeholders who collaborate and support the schools in the preparation stages of the competition.

Through their participation in the programme, students learn many technical skills, including robotics, engineering, design, programming and coding, but also skills and knowledge in other areas such as teamwork and financial planning.

Commenting on the final instalment of this year’s competition, Bob Savage, Vice President Regional CIO for EMEA and Cork Site Leader, Dell Technologies Ireland, said: “STEM learning is central to inspiring the next generation of developers and engineers whose skills will help shape our future as an innovation island. That’s why our team at Dell have come together with MTU to support the national finals of the VEX IQ Robotics Competition in Cork.

As we celebrate 10 years of the robotics challenge in Ireland, we are proud of our long-standing partnership with VEX which provides young people with a fun way to engage in technology and foster their creativity. I want to congratulate the finalists and all the students who put on a powerful demonstration of their problem-solving and computational skills at this year’s national finals.”

Hosted at the Páirc Uí Chaoimh events centre, the final saw Holy Cross National School in Mahon, Co. Cork, win the Overall Excellence Award and get a chance to take part in the Dell VEX World competition in Dallas in April.

This year, the programme encouraged students to look more closely at the world around them through a STEM project with the theme of ‘Mathematics in Nature’ leading students to explore many varied applications.

For further information on the VEX Robotics Competition, log onto https://www.roboticseducationireland.com/.