The largest robotics state championship in the country took place on Saturday, March 10th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, produced by TechPoint Foundation for Youth, powered by Guggenheim Life and Annuity and hosted by the City of Indianapolis. This is the second time the event has been held at the venue, bringing 361 Indiana elementary, middle, and high school teams together to compete for the opportunity to advance to this year's VEX Robotics World Competition being held in Louisville, Kentucky, at the end of April. More than 12,000 people were in attendance for the event.
Maddie Thumma and Leanne Cushing from BattleBots
Very special guests, Mayor Joe Hogsett, RECF CEO and Chairman of the Board, Dan Mantz, and IDOE Computer Science Specialist, Jake Koressel helped kick off the event, all presenting during the opening ceremony. Leanne Cushing and Maddie Thumma from BattleBots made a surprise appearance, with many words of encouragement for all of the female robotics students in the audience!
IndyVRC founder, Former Mayor Ballard, along with key representatives from top level sponsors including Indiana Department of Workforce Development, Indiana Department of Education, Roche Diagnostics, Eli Lilly and Company Foundation and additional supporting partners, attended to present awards including the coveted Ballard Teamwork Challenge trophies.
In addition to the nearly 1,900 robotics matches occurring on 50 different robotics fields throughout the day, an interactive TinkerFest presented by GEICO Cares took place that allowed students to tinker, make, discover, invent, create and play. 20 booths inspired more than 1,000 students through hands-on activities - and it was free to participate. TinkerFest also showcased finalists of the the inaugural Design it Make it Challenge. The contest, presented by TechPoint Foundation for Youth and IU School of Education, challenged K-12 teams to present a solution to a real world problem by designing and building a device that improves human health (see results below).
"This event was truly a milestone in our efforts with the State Robotics Initiative, and we were absolutely thrilled to put on a great event celebrating the success of Indiana robotics students," said VP of STEM Education for TechPoint Foundation for Youth, George Giltner, "With that being said, our work with the SRI will not be complete until every student in Indiana has access to a robotics program. We are looking forward to further expanding the impact of the initiative in the coming year."
The SRI grant program has helped launch more than 960 VEX IQ elementary and middle school teams since 2016. The 2019-20 grant is now open and the TPF4Y Robot Team hopes to award an additional 175 grants to eligible elementary and middle schools.
Due to the unprecedented growth of VEX IQ teams in Indiana, the state was awarded 110 qualifying spots for the 2019 World Competition - more than any state in the U.S. The 110 Indiana teams competing at Worlds will be matched up against 1,564 teams from over 30 countries in Louisville, Kentucky, from April 24-30.
Video recaps
Don’t miss these dynamic videos created by Query Productions for the State Championship:
Video played during the opening ceremonies
Final Results
Elementary VEX IQ
Middle School VEX IQ
Middle + High School VRC
Design it Make it Challenge Results
Judges Top Award
Adams Central Jr/Sr High, Monroe, IN
Design It Award
Binford Elementary School, Bloomington, IN
Make It Award
Riverside Intermediate School, Fishers, IN
State Finalists:
New Castle Middle School, New Castle, IN
Clear Creek Elementary, Bloomington, IN
University Elementary, Bloomington, IN
Binford Elementary School, Bloomington, IN