Rhode Island to Host Statewide Robotics Challenge

Starting next year, every Rhode Island high school student will be able to participate in the Vex Challenge, an international robotics competition that gives students firsthand experience with project management and engineering. A coalition of education and science and technology advocates, led by the nonprofit Business Innovation Factory, will cover the costs to schools and funding for an annual statewide tournament beginning in 2007. Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri has endorsed the program, which he calls an important part of our plan for educating Rhode Islands next generation of science, technology, and engineering leaders.

 

FIRST, a nonprofit STEM organization founded in 1989 by Segway-inventor Dean Kamen, began the Vex Challenge last year as a spinoff of its advanced competition for college students and professional engineers. Students are issued a basic robotics kit and set about designing a robot that will complete certain basic tasks, such as placing balls in goals or racing towards a finish line. At the statewide tournament, participating teams go head-to-head and score points by completing these tasks. Kits can be reused year after year, minimizing the cost to schools. The Challenge program lets students put their math and science knowledge to work and introduces them to future opportunities in robotics and engineering by teaming them with mentors from local colleges and universities. Gov. Carcieri has announced that the competition will be incorporated into the states new STEM curriculum standards.

 

In recent years, Rhode Island STEM leaders have had a difficult time encouraging students to pursue science and engineering degrees. Though New England as a whole increased its number of advanced science and engineering graduates by 11 percent during the 1990s, Rhode Island suffered a 15 percent drop. The states share of degrees issued in science and engineering remains the lowest in New England and below the national average.

 

Though more than 130 teams participated in the inaugural 2005-06 season, Rhode Island is the first state to provide financial support for teams in all of its high schools. The state is hoping to leverage its small size and increase its national profile by marketing Rhode Island's manageability as a testbed for innovative programs such as the Vex Challenge. All 67 of the states public and charter schools, as well as its career and technical centers, will be able to participate. The coalition will seek support from business and community sponsors to cover the total cost of the program, which is estimated at $140,000. FIRST, the Business Innovation Factory, and the Rhode Island Science & Technology Council also plan to collaborate on a detailed evaluation of the statewide program to facilitate its expansion into other states.

 

Find out more about the FIRST Vex Challenge at http://www.usfirst.org.

 

Read the press release from the Rhode Island Science & Technology Council at: http://www.stac.ri.gov/index.php?section=news&item=21