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Louisiana Tech University hosted 13 high school and middle school teams from across Louisiana and southern Arkansas for the second annual Louisiana Tech/Red Stick Robotics VEX competition on February 1 in Tolliver Hall on the Louisiana Tech campus.

Students observe teams at the Louisiana Tech-Red Stick VEX Tournament

Each team was competing for a coveted spot in the Louisiana VEX Robotics State Competition to be held on February 22 in Lafayette, La.

VEX Robotics teams design, build and program a robot to compete in autonomous and remote controlled events. Students program the robot using the “Robot C” language to organize balls on the playing field as they score points during head-to-head competition.  VEX provides hands-on applications in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), engaging groups of students in problem solving, teamwork and leadership.

“This is the type of experience that we need to make available to more students,” said Dr. David Hall, a mechanical engineering faculty member in the College of Engineering and Science, who also worked with Red Stick Robotics to prepare the tournament.  “This event gets students excited about learning and opens their eyes to the STEM fields that are so important for economic growth in the State.”

The award winners from the Louisiana Tech competition, who each qualified for the state tournament, are as follows:

• Excellence Award: Saline High School – Saline, La.
• Tournament Champion: Saline High School – Saline, La.
• Tournament Champion: Holy Cross School – New Orleans, La.
• Programming Skills: Catholic of Pointe Coupee High School – New Roads, La.
• Robot Skills: Catholic of Pointe Coupee High School – New Roads, La.
• Design Award: Carroll High School – Monroe, La.

D’Arbonne Wood Charter School in Farmerville, La. and St. Frederick High School in Monroe, La. were two other local schools that competed in the tournament.

For more information about VEX and Red Stick Robotics, visit www.redstickrobotics.org.
Written by Brandy McKnight – mcknight@latech.edu