On Thursday 13th February, Woodham Academy students participated in the regional finals of the VEX Robotic Challenge at the Regional Technology Centre in Sunderland. The event was funded by One North East, the STEMnet contract holders for County Durham and Tees Valley.
Nine secondary schools from Leeds to Blyth were involved in the construction of robots in the “Toss Up” Challenge, with five of the teams from Durham schools.
From the start of the action at 10.00 a.m., the event was a closely fought contest, with teams competing against one another in the warm up sessions. After lunch, the knockout heats began with partnerships formed between the different schools. The alliances then competed head to head against one another in a series of stand offs. The Woodham Academy contingent fought valiantly to a tight end result. The final knockout saw the Ferryhill/Temple Moor team vanquish the Park View/Tanfield line-up and snatch victory.
These two teams now go forward to the national finals, sponsored by Autodesk software, at the Big Bang Challenge event in Birmingham in from 13 – 16 March. A team of year 9 Woodham Academy students are participating in the event in preparation for next year’s challenge.
