A Winning Start: Phalanx Robotics Earns Design Award at VEX U Debut
Roo (left) and Blu (right) on display with the Design Award, taking a much-needed break after the tournament.
The Phalanx Robotics Design Team recently made an impressive debut at the collegiate level during the West Michigan Holiday VURC High Stakes Tournament on Dec. 7. Competing against 12 seasoned teams from states like Wisconsin, Virginia and Minnesota — each with long-running VEX U programs — Phalanx Robotics stood out, securing the Design Award and advancing to the quarterfinals.
The Design Award, presented by the REC Foundation, "recognizes a team's ability to document and explain their Engineering Design Process via an Engineering Notebook and Team Interview." This honor highlights the team’s dedication to innovation, thorough documentation and teamwork — especially impressive given this was their first tournament after transitioning to collegiate VEX robotics.
The Phalanx Robotics drive team lined up at the arena, ready for another match.
VEX U is a collegiate-level robotics competition that challenges university teams to design, build and program robots to compete in dynamic, engineering-driven matches. Teams must navigate complex tasks, demonstrate creativity and showcase their understanding of the engineering design process. VEX U competitions are known for fostering collaboration, critical thinking and advanced problem-solving skills, preparing students for future careers in STEM fields.
“We have wonderful students at The University of Akron and they can compete against anyone in the nation,“ shared Dr. Alper Buldum, professor of mechanical engineering and team advisor. “Our Phalanx Robotics team members are great examples of such students.“
Blu heading to the alliance zone to score and turn the match in the team's favor.
“I could not be more proud of how the team performed at this level,” said Jacob Yost, Phalanx Robotics president. “To compete against such strong programs and take home the Design Award is a testament to our team’s hard work and dedication.”
Phalanx Robotics’ strong performance at their first VEX U competition marks a promising start to their collegiate robotics journey. The team looks forward to building on this success and taking on new challenges in future tournaments.
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Media contact: Cristine Boyd, 330-972-6476 or cboyd@uakron.edu.