The Northeast Community College VEX U Qualifying Tournament will be held Saturday, February 9, in the lower level of the Student Center on Northeast’s Norfolk campus. Check-in and inspection will begin at 8:30 a.m., with competition set to start at 10 a.m. Spectators are welcome and encouraged to attend.
The winner of the qualifying event will advance to the VEX U World Championship, which will be held in Louisville, KY, in April.
Richard Chrisman, information technology instructor at the College, said being chosen to host a world-qualifying competition is an honor, as only 12 sites in the United States were designated as such this year.
Five teams will compete at the Northeast event. They hail from Northeast Community College, Fusion Community College in Loveland, CO, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Wayne State College, as well as a team from Douglas County West High School who are enrolled in robotics courses for college credit.
Chrisman said additional teams may register before the February 4 deadline.
In 2018, the Northeast robotics team competed in the world championship, which was also held in Louisville and featured over 90 teams from five continents and eleven countries.
“In past years, the teams from Northeast have had to travel between 400 and 563 miles to compete,” Chrisman said. “Having the qualifying event held locally eliminates that travel and gives Northeast recognition in the college robotics community.”
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PHOTO CUTLINE
Students compete in a VEX robotics event at Northeast Community College. Northeast will host a VEX U Qualifying Tournament on Saturday, February 9, in the lower level of the Student Center on the Norfolk campus. The winner will advance to the VEX U World Championship.