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Six Galway primary and secondary schools are honing their skills for the national finals of the VEX Robotics competitions later this month.
The Galway-Mayo regional events for the VEX Robotics schools’ competitions were hosted by ATU Galway City in January.
Scoil Muire Gan Smal Claremorris, Creagh National School (NS) Ballinasloe, St Augustine’s NS Clontuskert, and Scoil Bhríge agus Bhreandáin Naofa Corrandula made it through to the finals of the VEX IQ competition after beating the competition over January 16-17.
The secondary school VEX competition saw Presentation College Headford, St Colman’s College Claremorris, Ardscoil Mhuire Ballinasloe, and Calasanctius College Oranmore qualify for the national final.
The VEX Teamwork Challenges comprise of a series of matches where participating school teams compete with their robots working collaboratively to score points.
The regional events were the culmination of months of hard work by these young minds designing, building, trouble-shooting and coding their robots.
The competitions saw over 500 primary school and 100 secondary school pupils, from 27 national schools and 13 secondary schools, competing for a place in the national finals.
The national finals will take place on February 28 at MTU Cork, before the winners there head off to the World Championship in Dallas, Texas this April.
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- Glencastle NS pupils, recipients of the Judges award, pictured with ATU Galway-Mayo Head of Engineering Prof Graham Heaslip, ATU Galway-Mayo VEX Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon, sponsors Isobel Foye, Clodagh Naughton, Peadar Conneely, Mike Hedderman, Caroline McDonnell, Gail Quinn, Colm Mitchell and Thomas Lefebvre from Trane Technologies International – Thermo King, teachers Clara Holmes and Lisa Coarolan on Wednesday 17 January 2024 at the VEX IQ 2024 competition. Photo by Sean Lydon.
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- St Joseph NS Ballinrobe, Recipients of the Skills award, Teachers Edel Roche and Sean Flannelly. Pictured with with ATU Galway-Mayo Head of Engineering Prof Graham Heaslip, sponsors, Soazic Fagnére, Clodagh Naughton, Peadar Conneely, Mike Hedderman, Caroline McDonnell, Gail Quinn, Isobel Foyle, Thomas Lefebvre and Colm Mitchell from Trane Technologies International – Thermo King and ATU Galway-Mayo VEX Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon, on Wednesday 17 January 2024 at the VEX IQ 2024 competition. Photo by Sean Lydon
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- St Colman’s College Claremorris students, recipient of the Teamwork award, teacher Breandan Conroy , pictured with sponsors Ryan Reich and Niall O’Doherty from Boston Scientific, ATU Galway-Mayo Vex Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon on Thursday 18 January 2024 at the ATU Galway VEX VRC 2024 competition.
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- The TeamWork champions Creagh NS pupils, pictured with their teachers Shane Dolan, Sarah Spellman, Diarmuid O’Brien, sponsors Gabriel Walsh, Isobel Foye, Marie dunne, Gail Quinn, Thomas Lefebvre, Andreena Joyce, Colm Mitchell and Georgina Mongey from Trane Technologies International – Thermo King, ATU Galway-Mayo VEX Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon, Offaly County Council VEX Coordinator Ray Bell on Tuesday, 16 January 2024 at the VEX IQ 2024 competition. Photo by Sean Lydon.
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- Teamwork Champions, Scoil Bhríge agus Bhreandáin Naofa Corrandula NS Pupils pictured with their teachers Annette O’Malley and Darragh Glynn, ATU Galway-Mayo Head of Engineering Prof Graham Heaslip, ATU Galway-Mayo VEX Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon and sponsors Soazic Fagnére, Clodagh Naughton, Peadar Conneely, Mike Hedderman, Caroline McDonnell, Gail Quinn, Isobel Foyle, Thomas Lefebvre and Colm Mitchell from Trane Technologies International on Wednesday 17 January 2024 at the VEX IQ 2024 competition. Photo by Sean Lydon.
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- Clontuskert NS pupils, teamwork champions and recipients of the Design award, pictured with their teachers Kate Murray, Katie Feehily and Teresa Nevin, ATU Galway-Mayo Head of Engineering Prof Graham Heaslip, sponsors, Soazic Fagnére, Clodagh Naughton, Peadar Conneely, Mike Hedderman, Caroline McDonnell, Gail Quinn, Thomas Lefebvre and Colm Mitchell from Trane Technologies International – Thermo King and ATU Galway-Mayo VEX Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon, on Wednesday 17 January 2024 at the VEX IQ 2024 competition. Photo by Sean Lydon.
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- The teamwork and Skill champions, Scoil Muire Gan Smal Claremorris pupils, and their teacher Laura Prendergast, ATU Galway-Mayo VEX Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon, Offaly County Council VEX Coordinator Ray Bell, sponsors Gabriel Walsh, Isobel Foye, Marie dunne, Gail Quinn, Andreena Joyce, Thomas Lefebvre, Colm Mitchell and Georgina Mongey from Trane Technologies International – Thermo King, on Tuesday 16 January 2024 at the VEX IQ 2024 competition. Photo by Sean Lydon.
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- Ardscoil Mhuire Ballinasloe students, recipients of the Design award, pictured with sponsor Niall O’Doherty from Boston Scientific, ATU Galway-Mayo Vex Coordinator Dr.Carine Gachon and teacher Karl Elliffe on Thursday, 18 January 2024 at the ATU Galway VEX VRC 2024 competition.
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- Calasanctius College Oranmore, recipients of the Judges award, teach Joann Dempsey. pictured with sponsor Niall O’Doherty from Boston Scientific, ATU Galway-Mayo Vex Coordinator Dr.Carine Gachon on Thursday, 18 January 2024 at the ATU Galway VEX VRC 2024 competition.
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- Clontuskert NS pupils, teamwork champions and recipients of the Design award, pictured with their teachers Kate Murray, Katie Feehily and Teresa Nevin, ATU Galway-Mayo Head of Engineering Prof Graham Heaslip, sponsors, Soazic Fagnére, Clodagh Naughton, Peadar Conneely, Mike Hedderman, Caroline McDonnell, Gail Quinn, Thomas Lefebvre and Colm Mitchell from Trane Technologies International – Thermo King and ATU Galway-Mayo VEX Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon, on Wednesday 17 January 2024 at the VEX IQ 2024 competition. Photo by Sean Lydon.
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- Presentation College Headford students, recipients of the Excellence, Teamwork and Skills awards, pictured with sponsors Niall O’Doherty and Ryan Reich from Boston Scientific, ATU Galway-Mayo Vex Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon on Thursday 18 January 2024 at the ATU Galway VEX VRC 2024 competition.
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- Breaffy NS pupils, recipients of the Judges award, pictured with their teachers Kevin Duggan, Ciaran Hennelly and John Moran, sponsors Gabriel Walsh, Isobel Foye, Marie dunne, Gail Quinn, Andreena Joyce, Thomas Lefebvre, Colm Mitchell, Georgina Mongey from Trane Technologies International – Thermo King and ATU Galway-Mayo VEX Coordinator Dr Carine Gachon, on Tuesday, 16 January 2024 at the VEX IQ 2024 competition. Photo by Sean Lydon.
The regional competition also included an award for driving and coding skills won by Scoil Muire Gan Smal Claremorris, St Joseph’s NS Ballinrobe and Presentation College Headford.
There was also a Design Award won by Scoil Bhreandan Naofa Clonfert, Clontuskert NS, and Ardscoil Mhuire Ballinasloe. The judges gave special recognition to Glencastle NS, Breaffy NS and Calasanctius College Oranmore.
Dr Carine Gachon, Head of Department and VEX coordinator for ATU Galway-Mayo, said, “Each year, the challenge is different which requires creativity and problem-solving to overcome the difficulties of the game.”
“This year we saw some amazing designs and were impressed with the pupils’ ability to troubleshoot their robot during the competition.”
The event was hosted by the ATU Galway-May Department of Mechanical & industrial Engineering, sponsored by Trane Technologies – Thermo King for the primary schools and Boston Scientific for the secondary schools.
It was also supported by David Hodge, VEX national coordinator of Munster Technological University (MTU), Ray Bell and Dean Hodge of Offaly County Council and Anthony Bayle from the RECF foundation.
