The Woodland Hills VEX Robotics teams put in a strong showing at the Western Pennsylvania State Championships on March 9 and March 10, with two teams qualifying for the World Championships in St. Louis.
Six teams from the elementary, middle school, and high school programs competed at the state championships at PennWest Clarion University. Middle school team Hardwired won the Excellence Award to qualify for the world championships. The Excellence Award is one of the competition's top honors and recognizes a team that exemplifies overall excellence in engineering, design, and performance, including a high-ranking notebook and strong team interview.
Joining them at the World Championships will be elementary school team Robotic Wolverines, which also won the Excellence Award. The Robotic Wolverines also received the Teamwork 2nd Place Award. This is the second consecutive year that the VEX Robotics program is sending at least one team to the World Championships.
The other four teams also performed well at the state championship. High school squad Catalyze Robotics placed eighth out of 60 teams. Elementary team IQ Pandas won the Design Award, which celebrates the team with the most organized, professional, and efficient design process, highlighting the creation and documentation of their robot.