Engineering School hosts robot competition

The Liberty University School of Engineering and Computational Sciences hosted a VEX Robotics Competition on Saturday, March 27, in the Schilling Center. Twenty-one teams from various public, private and Christian high schools from Virginia and Maryland, along with one home school team, participated.

About 78 students competed for the top awards — qualifying for the Vex Robotics Competition World Championship to be held in Dallas, Texas, April 22-24 and an $8,000 engineering scholarship to Liberty University.

The event is held to inspire students in the engineering design process and encourage them to consider majoring in engineering in college.

The “Clean Sweep” robot ballgame involves two teams of two robots each facing off in a 12-by-12 playing field. Robots must pass balls of various sizes through goals in a wall that separates the two teams.

Top awards went to Gar-Field High School (Woodbridge, Va.), Annapolis Area Christian School (Severn, Md.) and Lloyd C. Bird High School (Chesterfield, Va.). The home school team from Daleville, Va. also qualified for the World Championship by winning the Excellence Award, presented to the team that excels in all areas of VEX Robotics and exemplifies overall excellence in building a well-rounded VEX robotics program.

Several regional and national corporations sponsored the event and contributed door prizes.