Recapping the 2022 Indiana VEX Robotics State Championship

RECAPPING THE 2022 INDIANA VEX ROBOTICS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

The largest robotics state championship in the country took place on Saturday, March 12th at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, presented by TechPoint Foundation for Youth (TPF4Y), powered by Group 1001 and hosted by the City of Indianapolis. This is the fourth time the event has been held at the venue, bringing 274 Indiana elementary, middle, and high school teams together to compete amongst their peers. More than 7,500 people were in attendance for the event. Check out the video below for a recap of the day’s excitement!

TPF4Y welcomed special guests Mayor Joe Hogsett of Indianapolis and Indiana Secretary of Education, Dr. Katie Jenner, to help kickstart the event, both who gave inspirational and encouraging speeches during the opening ceremony. Additional special guests included IndyVRC founder, Former Mayor Greg Ballard who presented the Ballard Teamwork Challenge Awards, and representatives from TechPoint Foundation for Youth’s major sponsoring companies and organizations, Group 1001, Roche Diagnostics, Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, and the Herbert Simon Family Foundation.

Students exuded passion, focus, collaboration, and sportsmanship all while demonstrating the utmost respect for one another and for every volunteer that helped make the day happen. “The students of these robotics teams will become next generation of STEM leaders in Indiana and beyond. By providing a STEM pathway through competitive robotics from elementary all the way to high school, we are building the workforce pipeline of tomorrow.” said TechPoint Foundation for Youth President/CEO, George Giltner.

TPF4Y was honored to recognize Seniors in robotics on a special Robotics Senior Wall of Fame. Be sure to check out our Senior Wall of Fame below to learn more about our 2022 Seniors.

In partnership with Purdue University, we were pleased to announce a new scholarship specifically for seniors on Indiana VEX Robotics teams. This scholarship will cover the full cost of resident tuition for 4 years. Please join us in congratulating this year’s Purdue Robotics student scholarship recipient, Abby Beauchamp from team 73641A, Lake Central High School. We are so proud of Abby and want to give a special thanks to Purdue University for recognizing and supporting the amazing students on robotics teams who are inventing impressive engineering solutions.

New this year, TPF4Y introduced an award to highlight a High School VRC team going above and beyond to make a positive impact on the robotics community. The Robotics Community Award is presented to a high school VEX VRC Robotics team that best represents the mission of robotics by supporting and encouraging other teams in their local community. We are thrilled to announce Team 323V, Cornerstone Robotics as the recipients of the 2022 Robotics Community Award.

Since 2016, the State Robotics Initiative grant program has helped launch over 2,100 Indiana robotics teams and impacted over 24,000 students. TechPoint Foundation for Youth’s 2022-23 grants are now open and the TPF4Y Robot Team plans to award eligible elementary, middle, and high schools beginning in April!

Learn more about TPF4Y robotics opportunities HERE.