TODAY: NCRETE HOSTS VEX ROBOTICS COMPETITIONS

Posted on November 10, 2010

Cal U’s National Center for Robotics Engineering and Technology Education (NCRETE) will host two VEX Robotics World Championship qualifying competitions from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 20 in the Performance Center, inside the Natali Student Center on the campus in California, Pa.

The Western Pennsylvania VEX Robotics Round-Up competitions at Cal U will feature:

• A high school competition, with 26 teams from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Ontario, Canada.
• The campus’s first collegiate contest, one of just four held in the United States. Cal U’s team will face four opponents, including teams from Connecticut State University and Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in Queens, N.Y.

Top performers from each competition will qualify for the 2011 VEX Robotics World Championship April 14-16 in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World^® Resort near Orlando, Fla.

Each year, VEX Robotics competitions change the game rules to ensure original robotic designs. This year’s game is VEX Round Up, where robots score points by dropping rings onto goalposts, defending goalposts and climbing a 36-inch-high “ladder” in the center of the ring.

VEX Robotics competitions are the largest and fastest growing robotics programs in the world. Schools in more than 20 countries are playing in 200 tournaments across the globe.

Designing the robots teaches skills in science, technology, engineering and math, organizers say, as well as encouraging problem-solving, critical thinking and teamwork.

This event is free and open to the public. Visitor parking is available in the new Vulcan Garage, accessible from Third Street near the campus entrance.