LA PLATA, Md. (Feb. 2, 2016)—The College of Southern Maryland is hosting 12 teams for the VEX U Robotics World Championship Qualifier on Feb. 5 at the La Plata Campus. In addition to two teams from CSM, participating teams include, George Mason University, Liberty University, New York Institute of Technology, Northern Virginia Community College, Old Dominion University, Vaughn College of Aeronautics & Technology of Flushing, New York, Virginia Tech and a team comprised of students from Drexel University, University of Maryland College Park, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Vermont and Vermont Technical College.
"This is our largest and most competitive qualifier in the three years that we have hosted. We are excited to compete against these East Coast teams," said Professor Bernice Brezina, the team's faculty sponsor.
CSM's collegiate team, the Talons, finished in the top 10 in qualification rounds in last year's competition. This year's team of current students and alum now pursuing bachelor's degrees includes Ryan Achterberg of Lusby, Chad Baker of Mechanicsville, Allison Decarlo of Charlotte Hall, Bradley Evans of California, Cody Graham of Great Mills, John Hamel of Mechanicsville, Tierra Harris of Hollywood, John Ingram of Leonardtown, Kevin Jackson of Lusby, George Jenkins of La Plata, Zoe Lambert of Hollywood, Michael O'Conner of Solomons and Matt Wilkinson of Leonardtown.
The all-day competition includes up to seven qualifying matches per team and up to three robot skills, and three programming skills tries for each team. Qualification matches and skills challenges are from 12:30 to 6 p.m. Elimination matches and finals are from 6 to 7:30 p.m., followed by an awards ceremony.
As a result of this event achieving 12 registration teams, the competition will result in the Excellence Award winner and the Tournament Champions being extended an invitation to attend the VEX U World Championship, April 20-23 in Louisville, Kentucky.
For more on the Talons, visit
stem.csmd.edu/events_csmroboticsVEX.html.
For information on CSM, visit www.csmd.edu.
CSM Hosts Collegiate Robotics Competition, Feb. 5
Members of the CSM collegiate robotics team, the Talons, including, from left, Bradley Evans of California, Kevin Jackson of Lusby, Allison Decarlo of Charlotte Hall, Zoe Lambert of Hollywood (seated), Chad Baker of Mechanicsville, John Hamel of Mechanicsville and George Jenkins of La Plata, are looking forward to the Feb. 5 VEX U World Championship qualifying competition on their campus.
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