With a focus on science and technology, students from all around the world in over 50 countries take part in VEX competitions and dedicate their time to plan, build, and compete to try and win first place amongst other engineered-minded individuals. VEX Robotics was founded by Tony Norman and Bob Mimlitch in 2007 and has branched into many categories and competitions over the years, changing and adapting to how VEX is today. Although VEX is a pseudoword with no clarified meaning, it is a lot more than just a robotics competition to the VEX community.

VEX robotics is a program that can be joined from elementary school to the university level. It’s a competition where the robot teams’ designs are put to the test in games and scoring. The games change every few years as well as constraints and rules, so it gives a fresh start for new robots to be built and a variety of new designs to be made. 

Joining this club and participating in the competitions has bolstered the skills of the club’s current leaders. President Thiago Perez says that VEX robotics is the perfect club for students who want to get involved and gain hands-on experience in engineering, especially robotics. In addition to gaining experience, students can hone their engineering skills. Vice president Zachary Ramsey thinks it’s a great club to learn about planning, testing, refining, and designing. Ramsey also says that the VEX community is really great and has taught him various life skills and has encouraged him to be more involved. Not only do students bolster their technological skills, but they gain confidence. Vice president Twain Johns has developed better communication and teamwork skills through this club and has learned to be a leader in projects, which has been “helpful for other classes especially engineering.” VEX teaches a variety of skills that can be applied in not just engineering but everyday life as well.

VEX at Olympic Heights is broken up into three phases: planning, building, and competitions. The planning phase is intensive and involves a lot of designing, and there are many considerations. The planning phase depicts each team brainstorming their own robot design and how effective it will be in competition. The VEX build phase is when teams actually construct their robot and refine its components according to their circumstances and how the competition has progressed throughout the school year. This phase is thought to be longer than the planning phase but not as intense. 

Each year around summertime VEX has new V5 and IQ competitions, where local teams are able to participate and go up in scale to regional and global competitions. Each competition is different and each one requires a different kind of robot to complete certain tasks. The variety is an incredible part of VEX, and it is an international phenomenon.

If any Olympic Heights student is interested in more information on how to join VEX, stop by Ms. Cheva’s room in 6114.