The Community Foundation of Greater Flint is proud to announce its sponsorship of the skills field at the upcoming VEX Robotics Competition on November 18th, held at Kettering University’s Campus Center Founders Room. This sponsorship was made possible through a generous $2,000 grant authorized by the Foundation, with $1,000 of it coming from the William H. and Joyce R. Piper Family Fund.
As part of the sponsorship, the Foundation’s logo will be prominently displayed on signage at the skills field and on the back of volunteers’ T-shirts. This provides an excellent opportunity for brand recognition and community impact. Education and youth development are key focus areas for the Foundation’s grantmaking efforts, making this sponsorship a perfect fit.
In the VEX Robotics skills challenge, teams compete to score as many points as possible in a one-minute match. The challenge consists of both Driving Skills and Autonomous Coding, with teams being ranked based on their combined score in both categories. This competition allows middle and high school students to showcase their robot-designing and building skills while demonstrating their talent in coding and problem-solving.
Kim Shumaker, the Robotics Community Center and Robotics Outreach Director at Kettering University, emphasized the importance of recognizing these talented students and exposing them to a university campus where their skillset is highly valued. The grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Flint’s William H. and Joyce R. Piper Family Fund enables Kettering University to provide a venue for these student participants to showcase their abilities.
This year’s game is titled “Over Under,” and features a head-to-head matchup where two alliances, each consisting of two teams, compete to move acorn-shaped “Triballs” into their goals and offensive zones. Additionally, teams can earn points by having their robots climb the Elevation Bars at the end of the match. The level reached by the robots determines the number of elevation points awarded.
The November 18th event is expected to draw thirty-six teams from across the state, and sponsorship opportunities are still available for those interested in supporting this exciting competition. For more information, please contact Kim Shumaker at [email protected].
Kettering University has been actively involved in hosting VEX camps and workshops since 2015. Students who are active competitors or mentors in VEX or other competitive robotics organizations can also benefit from renewable scholarships of up to $5,000 per year (up to $25,000 over five years).
For more information about robotics at Kettering University, please visit their website [Source URL: https://www.kettering.edu/news/community-foundation-greater-flint-sponsors-skills-field-vex-robotics-competition].