FAIRMONT — The NASA Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) Program’s Education Resource Center (ERC) has been an integral part of expanding robotics and STEM extracurricular activities in West Virginia, and those efforts are paying off in real time as students advance to global robotics competitions this week in Dallas, Texas.
This has been a dynamic year for STEM events and education in the state. In late 2021, Robotics was recognized as a co-curricular activity by the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC). This came after years of the ERC championing robotics in schools across the state and managing a dozen unique competitive programs under its umbrella, the West Virginia Robotics Alliance.
“We hope that recognition from the WVSSAC will increase the number of schools throughout West Virginia participating in competitive robotics,” John Holbrook, of the ERC, said following that announcement. “Ultimately, our goal is to see robotics teams from every county of West Virginia.”
As 2022 kicked off, the ERC hosted several events and competitions for robotics students all around the state and beyond including an REC Foundation Aerial Drone (RAD) Competition in February, which ended up being the biggest event of its kind in the state and one of the largest in the country.
“One of the key goals of our robotics outreach is to provide opportunities to students in our rural communities to compete on both a local and world stage, that just a few years ago would have seemed improbable,” IV&V ERC Program Manager Dr. Todd Ensign said. “I believe robotics connects with the culture of our state where we have always been proud of our hard-work ethics and self-reliance when it comes to solving problems. Competitive robotics gives our students a chance to learn valuable STEM skills, teamwork, and have fun while doing it.”
At the state championship for the VEX Robotics Competition, students from the elementary level all the way to the college level competed in five tournaments over three days at Fairmont State University. Thirty-seven teams advanced directly from the five VEX events to the World Championship. Two additional teams advanced through their global Skills rankings, Online Challenges, or other programs.
During that weekend in the VRC Championships, 17 middle and high school teams received invitations including: six from Kanawha County, five from Ohio County, two from Marion County and one each from Brooke, Cabell, Lincoln, and Wood counties.
From the VEXIQ Championships, 17 middle and elementary teams received invitations including: seven from Mercer County, four from Berkeley, three from Kanawha, two from Wayne, and one from Cabell County. Two additional Cabell County middle school teams received invitations by winning RECF Online Challenges, and three Cabell County high school teams are competing at Worlds in the JROTC track.
Between these events, 39 VEX teams and 19 drone teams will be representing West Virginia at the World Championships.
“Due to our growth in all these programs and increased venue size at the Championship events, this is roughly twice the size of our last in-person Worlds contingent, and three times including our RAD teams,” Ryan Utzman of the ERC said. “Our whole team agrees that the teams have increased in quality just as much as they have in quantity, and we expect all of these teams to do the state proud out on the competition fields.”
It’s not only been about the number of students reached for these STEM opportunities, but also the different groups and demographics included. The ERC is collaborating with state and regional groups like the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and the state Department of Education’s Schools of Diversion and Transition among others to support high-school aged youth in foster care.
In addition, at the REC Aerial Drone competition this year, students from the West Virginia Deaf Service Center were able to compete in an accessible environment as the state’s first deaf drone teams. And those teams earned an invitation to the RAD World Championship to be held in Dallas, Texas this month.
“Our team is passionate about increasing opportunities for youth to engage in STEM competitions,” Ensign said. “But nothing is more meaningful than when we work together with organizations to engage youth in foster care or the WV Schools for the Deaf and Blind to bring these programs to those who are overcoming even greater obstacles in life.”
Looking ahead along with the REC and VEX world championships, there will be more opportunities to display STEM skills here at home this spring. On May 16, the WVSSAC Robotics State Championship is set to take place at the Fairmont State University Feaster Center. This will be the first state tournament since the WVSSAC officially recognized robotics as a co-curricular activity, and many are expected to attend.
“We are so happy to host our first-ever WVSSAC Robotics Championship event, and even more excited NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and an astronaut will be here to help inspire the students,” Ensign said.
For more information on robotics and STEM opportunities with the NASA IV&V Program’s ERC, please contact Ensign at Todd.Ensign@FairmontState.edu