Singapore American School's middle school robotics team 6546Y won the Design Award at the VEX IQ World Championship held last Sunday, May 30. This win at the VEX IQ World Championship is a first for SAS. The Design Award, the second most prestigious judged award, is given to a team with an innovative design, and a well-documented Engineering Notebook. This team did well in their interview with the VEX Worlds judges, impressing them with how well they could explain different aspects of their robot and how well they collaborated as a team.

Congratulations to eighth grade students Adam B., Siddhant G., Julien L., Aryan P., and Daniel X.! Kudos to coach Stan Richards and high school mentor, Avery Fiore, who was the driving force behind the victory!

The team started working on the VEX IQ Rise Above Challenge in June 2020, meeting at a team member’s home to work within COVID-19 restrictions. Working tirelessly throughout the season, the team built a total of four dramatically different robots. In the lead-up to VEX IQ World Championship, they competed in VEX online challenges, creating a winning video on sensors, and demonstrating the team’s CADing (computer-aided design) skills. During the season, the team won the “Robot Skills Champion Award” at the Singapore Regionals and the “Judges Award” at the Caution Tape Live Remote Judging Competition. Check out the team's most recent robot performing driver skills run for the VEX IQ Rise Above competition here.

The middle school VEX IQ program was started by the SAS high school Robotics Club three years ago and continues to be mentored by high school students.