Girls & Robotics

My son participated in the  2011 VEX Robotics World Championship this weekend in Orlando. It was his schools first ever robotics club and although they didn’t win the overall competition, they did receive an award for building and programming their robot in an amazingly short period – only 5 days compared to the months spent by other teams. It was fun and inspirational for them and they are already planning their next competitive event.

Vex Robotics Event 2011

This was an awesome experience for the kids – not only were they learning to work together as a team but also meeting kids from all over the country and internationally who shared the same interests in technology. I was struck by how fun &  friendly  the atmosphere was – competitive teams who were still willing to share equipment and help out each other so they could compete on the play field. Learn more here if you want to suggest it to your school.

Croom's Robotics wins Vex Award

Although my sons team had only one girl on the team – there was a very strong participation by girls in the competition overall. The Vibots from McLane Middle School’s primarily female robotics team won the Educate Award.

It is great to see an event designed to promote interest in technology and engineering reach so many of our middle and high school aged girls