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First VEX “Idea Factory” Held in B.C. (Sept 17)

The first VEX “Idea Factory” to be hosted in B.C. occurred this Saturday at Moscrop Secondary School in Burnaby. Roughly 100 students from across Metro Vancouver gathered along with teachers, team coaches, and community volunteers to get a “hands on” look at this year’s VEX Robotics Competition game “Gateway” and rules.

After presentations on the game, and workshops providing advice on how to get started, the students formed into teams, broke out the robot parts and started to build. Many teams left the workshop with a good head start towards building a robot capable of playing this year’s game.

The event was organized by the Pacific Youth Robotics Society. “This should really give the students a head start on the season.” explained PYRS President and veteran VEX tournament organizer, Lance Balcom, who feels that having the chance to get “hands on” with the game field and elements this early in the season will help teams formulate functional designs earlier than in previous years.

Vancouver School Board Shows Off Gladstone Robotics

Gladstone Students – Second in Robotics World Championships

The Vancouver School Board recently met some of our incredible student robotics teams.

“The robotics students of Gladstone Secondary School are part of an elite group of young people. Not only are they intelligent and hard-working, but they know how to work as a team and clearly, they relish the opportunity to display their intelligence and skill. After months of work and countless hours of strategizing, designing, building and programming this team of dedicated young people have emerged champions.”

Read the article

PYRS Hosts First Okanagan VEX Workshop (June 27-28)

The Pacific Youth Robotics Society will host a professional development workshop for teachers and prospective VEX robotics coaches in Summerland, BC, this June. The workshop will appeal to educators and robotics enthusiasts in the Okanagan and will help spur development of competitive robotics teams in the BC interior.

The workshop is an extension of the successful VEX Professional Development workshops for teachers that have been held in Vancouver for the past three years. Participants will become familiar not just with the technology behind building and programming a VEX robot, but with the strategies and techniques that have proven successful in building competitive robotics teams and getting young people excited about building competitive robots. The workshop will be presented at Summerland Secondary School, where teacher Nick Kast has included the VEX Robotics Competition as part of his classes for the past three years, and will take place on June 27 and 28, 2011.

The workshop will be presented by BCIT Instructor Jason Brett, and British Columbia’s most experienced VEX Robotics coach, Todd Ablett, of Gladstone Secondary School. The workshop has been made possible thanks to funding from the British Columbia “Year of Science” program and the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of B.C. Details and registration information, including how to have a VEX robot included in workshop registration fees at a reduced rate are available on the Botshop Blog.

PYRS Hosts Third Annual Vancouver VEX Workshop (June 23-24)

The Pacific Youth Robotics Society will host a VEX Professional Development workshop this June in Vancouver. The workshop will be aimed at teachers and community members new to the VEX robotics system and interested in assisting young people in the development of a VEX Robotics Competition team.

The workshop will cover everything from ordering and uncrating a VEX robot kit, to building and programming the robot. Special attention will be given to the demands of building a successful robotics team that encourages young people to get excited and involved in science and technology. Past sessions of the workshop have been instrumental in supporting the development of new robotics programs in the lower mainland and on Vancouver Island.

The workshop is supported by the BC Government’s “Year of Science” program and will be hosted at Gladstone Secondary School on June 23 and 24, 2011. Sessions will be presented by BCIT Instructor Jason Brett, and Gladstone Secondary teacher Todd Ablett, who has recently returned from another very successful trip with his students to the VEX Robotics World Championships. Details and registration information are available on the Botshop Blog. Participants who register for “The Professional Learning Package” will have VEX robotics kit included in their workshop fee at special reduced rate.

B.C. Teams Excel at VRC World Championships

Vex Robotics Competition teams from British Columbia turned in a stellar performance at the VEX Robotics World Championships this past weekend in Orlando. Competiting against over 400 teams from around the world, the ten teams representing B.C. excelled in all aspects of the competition.

Perhaps the most noteworthy performance was turned in by team 2A from Gladstone Secondary School in Vancouver, placing second overall in the Programming Skills Challenge. Glastone’s team 2K, “The Chopstyks”, also reached their divisional semi-finals.

Cambie Secondary, from Richmond, also had multiple high-achieving teams with teams 1107A and 1107C partnering up to reach their divisional finals, while team 1107B not only reached their divisional semi-finals, but was voted “Most Admired Team” by their fellow competitors and took home the “Inspire” award.

Teams from David Thompson Secondary in Vancouver, and Moscrop Secondary, in Burnaby also did well and helped keep the overall win ratio for BC teams well above 0.500.

Several teams from Washington State also did exceptionally well, including team W.A.S.A.B.I., who partnered with teams from Ontario and Massachusets to take home the championship trophy. The combined results show why the Washington/B.C. region is considered one of the most competitive regions for VEX robotics on the planet.