Laois schools gearing up to take part in robotics competition

Primary and secondary schools in Laois are gearing up to take part in this year's VEX IQ robotics competition run by Laois County Council.

Before the Christmas break, the Council's STEM Engagement Officer, Seanie Morris, visited schools in the county to check progress and offer help on their VEX IQ Robotics building and coding activities. In all, there are 17 primary schools and 10 secondary schools (for the Junior Cycle) from across Laois that are involved, and this number is only going to rise. 
The Junior Cycle Secondary Schools VEX IQ Competition is on January 22, while the Primary Schools VEX IQ Competition is on February 5. 

School teams get to build their robots in advance over many weeks, and then play the competition game Rapid Relay and code their robots to achieve points during these competition dates. Three  winning teams on the day will progress to MTU in Cork for the National Finals in late February. CONTINUE READING BELOW PHOTO

"Coding and Computer Programming are cited as the skills of the 21st century. Coding is everywhere, from engineering to gaming, medical to education, and the current and future jobs market relies on a growing pool of computer programming and software talent," said a spokesperson for the Council.

"By rolling out the VEX IQ (and VEX V5) Robotics programmes, children learn the benefits of building and engineering a robot, make better their teamwork collaboration, and coding skills to get everything working together. It is hoped that as these children grow and learn that they will take on subject in the sciences, engineering, computers and allied subjects and lean towards similar career paths."

The STEM Engagement Project is under the Midlands Regional Enterprise Development Plan, is a collaboration between Laois County Council and Midlands Ireland and funded by the European Union Just Transition Fund.