More than 100 students in inaugural Westmeath VEX IQ Robotics Competition

More than 100 students and teachers gathered in Loreto College, Mullingar on May 14 for the first VEX IQ Robotics Competition for County Westmeath.

Over the previous few weeks, students from three primary and five post-primary schools in the county built their VEX Robots, in preparation for the competition, which involves schools pairing up to compete in alliances, using their robots to score goals on a playing field.

The VEX Robotics programme aims to encourage students to develop an interest in STEM areas, such as technology, engineering, programming, design and computer science. It also fosters experience in soft skills such as teamwork and communication skills.

The expectation is that many of the students will enjoy the STEM programmes and develop an interest to study similar topics in the future. With the midlands region requiring more STEM related skill sets in the years ahead, it is anticipated that some of the students involved in the competition will become the engineers of the future.

The VEX Robotics programme is being rolled out to primary and post-primary schools across Westmeath, by the county council, through funding provided by the Midlands Regional Enterprise Plan Pathway for Just Transition programme, which is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the EU Just Transition Fund Programme 2021-2027.

Since February this year, seven post-primary and four primary schools have received VEX IQ kits as well as the Rapid Relay competition kit.

https://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/ourservices/communitydevelopment/stem/