NORFOLK, NE – The Student Center on the campus of Northeast Community College in Norfolk served as the backdrop for a very important event recently.
College students including those from Northeast, participated in a VEX U (robotics) Qualifying Tournament with the winner advancing to the 2019 VEX U World Championship in Louisville, KY, in April. Northeast was one of 12 sites across the United States to host a qualifying event this winter.
Team UNLVU1 Husker Robotics, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was tournament champion and earned an automatic invitation to the world championship. UNLVU1 also earned the tournament’s Excellence Award and the Robot Skills Champion Award.
Team Fusion, a community-based team with participants from Loveland and Denver, CO, won the Design Award.
Two teams from Northeast Community College, NECC98 and NECC1 finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, while Wayne State College was sixth.
Richard Chrisman, information technology instructor (IT) at Northeast and tournament director, said UNLVU1 may not be the only qualifier from the Norfolk event.
“Additional teams may also receive an at-large invitation, but we will need to wait for about three-weeks to find out,” he said.
Northeast’s “KylEd” robotics team qualified for the VEX U Robotics World Championship in Kentucky in 2018.
VEX competitions represent the world’s largest and fastest growing competitive robotics programs for elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges. There are more than 20,000 VEX competition teams from over 45 countries that participate in over 1,500 events worldwide. The competition season culminates each spring, with the VEX Robotics World Championship.
“Watching students experience the joy of bringing a robot from simple design renderings to the competition field is quite an amazing feat,” Chrisman said. “To do so in such a short span of time, with the ability to meet up at a VEX U event to compete with your peers and learn from each other is truly inspiring. It’s clear this event will prepare students with the skills they need to become tomorrow’s leading innovators.”
Northeast robotics NECC98 team members are Kyle Lentz, Hartington, Travis Munyer, Norfolk, and Joe Walsh, Ravenna. Noah Kalveledge, Battle Creek, and Shelby Stelling, Osmond, are on NECC1.
Also assisting with the event were Northeast IT instructors Kris Coan, Gigi Simonsen, and Brad Vogt;
Dr. Wade Herley, dean of business and technology; Shawn Tillotson, associate dean of business; and technology; and Kirk Christian, instructional technology systems specialist. In addition, Dr. Tim Garvin, chair of the computer technology and information systems department and professor at Wayne State College, and student assistants from Wayne State College, also served roles in the competition.
Former student, Calvin Craig, Norfolk, a member of the KylEd team, served as a judge.
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PHOTO CUTLINE
NECC98 team members Kyle Lentz, Hartington, Travis Munyer, Norfolk, and Joe Walsh, Ravenna, from Northeast Community College, compete in a VEX U (robotics) Qualifying Tournament at Northeast Community College recently. The team finished fourth, while NECC1 team members Noah Kalveledge, Battle Creek, and Shelby Stelling, Osmond, placed fifth. Team UNLVU1, from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, won the tournament championship, and earned an automatic bid to compete in the 2019 VEX U World Championship in Louisville, KY, in April.