Vaughn College’s Robotics Team returned to the VEX U World Championships for the second year in a row placing sixth in the world at the competition, falling only to the team that won the championship, the Blue Roosters of Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, Massachusetts on Saturday, April 18. The championship was held in Louisville, Kentucky, and lasted three days.

The competition was stronger than previous years, as teams had to win qualifying matches to make it to the championship, as opposed to the walk-on competitions held last year. Vaughn’s team proved a fierce competitor, facing teams from all over the US, as well as Mexico, Bahrain and Australia.

“This was another great year for Vaughn’s Robotics Team,” said Vaughn College President Dr. Sharon B. DeVivo. “We finished sixth in the world and competed against 54 teams, and the team tells me that they’re ready to reach even higher next year.”

Following the competition, VEX Robotics revealed the challenge for next year’s competition.

“The competition was 10 times tougher than last year, and we still managed to advance pretty far so we’re very proud of that,” said Jefferson Maldonado, president of the robotics club. “Next year is the last year for most of us, since we’ll be graduating, so we’re going even harder. We have big things planned for next year’s championship.”

The robotics team has already begun preparing for next year’s competition, and will compete in qualifying matches next spring.80

The Vaughn College Robotics Team poses at the VEX U World Championships with Dr. Sharon B. DeVivo, president of Vaughn College (far left) and Dr. Hossein Rahemi, chair of the engineering and technology department (far right).