FIRST Vex™ Challenge (FVC), a nationwide mid-level robotics competition targeted toward high-school aged students, was held at Glendale Community College on Sunday, December 3rd. Approximately 550 attendees looked on as 40 teams battled in competitions that tested the agility, effectiveness and accuracy of movement of their team-constructed robots.

Each of the robots was constructed using an individual kit from Vex Robotics. The company designed the competition to combine a hands-on, interactive robotics program with the atmosphere of a sporting event. The program was co-sponsored by FIRST, an organization whose mission is to excite young people about the fun, accessibility, and importance of science and engineering, and was held as a preparatory competition for the official FIRST Vex™ Challenge LA Championship Tournament to be held at Cal State Northridge on December 16.

Teams from local high schools, and from as far away as San Diego, Las Vegas and San Luis Obispo, were judged competitively by industry professionals from Edwards Air Force Base, Raytheon and JPL. Each team consisted of four to ten players and was given eight weeks to build a robot before testing their designs and game strategies in the "Hangin'-A-Round" game environment. The game is played on a 12'x12'square field and teams earn points for completing a number of challenges, including having their robot place softballs into both low and high goals, park on a platform and hang from a bar. The results of the GCC competition helped team members to identify areas for improvement so that they could modify their creations before the Cal State Northridge competition.

In May, Glendale Community College was awarded a Quick Start grant in Applied Competitive Technologies from the California Community College's Chancellor's Office to arouse students' interest in and motivation to pursue careers in high-wage, high-skill occupations in the fields of science, engineering, and technology. With a projected need for an additional 1,140 math and science teachers in Los Angeles County within the next six years, there is a strong need to recruit more students to science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. Robotics competitions motivate more students to enter these important fields by giving them hands-on, real-world experience with science and technology, challenging students to put their math and science to work in exciting ways.

The robotics competition was a kick-off to the Tech Expo, a three day event in which the college showcased its many programs in Engineering Manufacturing Technologies. Booths demonstrating the features of each of the college's programs were made available at the robotics competition and in the college's San Gabriel Plaza on the two days after the tournament.