STEM students from Canada, China, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States brought home the gold at world's largest robotics competition

LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation and VEX Robotics are thrilled to announce the elementary school through college winners of the 2017 VEX Robotics World Championship. Student-led teams from Canada, China, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States were awarded top honors this week in each of the following programs: the VEX IQ Challenge Elementary School World Championship, the VEX IQ Challenge Middle School World Championship, the VEX Robotics Competition Middle School World Championship, the VEX Robotics Competition High School World Championship, and the VEX U World Championship for university students.

"The VEX Robotics World Championship is an exciting ride from start to finish. It's truly inspiring to witness the hard work and dedication of these teams, who competed all year to get an invitation to Louisville," said Paul Copioli, president of VEX Robotics. "We're thrilled to see students from Canada, China, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States excelling in STEM as they proudly take home World Champion titles for their outstanding performance, teamwork and sportsmanship."

The 2017 VEX Robotics World Champions and Excellence Award Winners are as follows:

VEX Robotics World Champions

VEX Robotics Competition Middle School World Champions

8736A, Nanxiang A, Jiading District Nanxiang Middle School, Shanghai, China
8065U, ATOM-U, Hai Sing Catholic School, Singapore
8193D, Shanghai Yongchang D, Shanghai Yongchang Private School, Shanghai, China
VEX Robotics Competition High School World Champions

86868, The Resistance, Nibot Robotics, Santa Clara, California, United States
7258A, High School Beijing Tec A, Middle School Attached to Beijing Institute of Tec, Beijing, China
8192D, Shanghai Huangpu D, Shanghai Huangpu Teenagers S&T Activity Center, Shanghai, China
VEX Robotics Competition Robot Skills Award

Middle School: 8065U, ATOM-U, Hai Sing Catholic School, Singapore, Singapore
High School: 365X, Invictus, Flower Mound, Texas, United States
VEX Robotics Competition Excellence Award

Middle School: 2235, Cyber Tigers, Antolina Velez, Aguadilla, Puerto Rico
High School: 323, R.I.O.T., Cornerstone Robotics, Greenwood, Indiana, United States
VEX U World Champions

AURA, Auckland Uni Robotics, Auckland University Robotics Association, Auckland City, New Zealand
VEX U Robot Skills Award

BNS, Bots 'n' Stuff, Bots 'n' Stuff Robotics, Winooski, Vermont, United States
VEX U Excellence Award

XJTU, TEAM4, Xi'an Jiao Tong University, Xi'an, China
VEX IQ Challenge Elementary School World Champions

15472A, Second Experimental A, Second Experimental Primary School, Laoshan District, Qingdao, Shandong, China
68A, PS of YNNU, Primary School Affiliated to Yun Nan Numorl University, KinMing, Yunnan, China
VEX IQ Challenge Middle School World Champions

555A, Gladiators, KraftWerx, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
16180G, The InVEXibles, TECH of Katy, Katy, Texas, United States
VEX IQ Challenge Robot Skills

Elementary School: 10492A, Simfuture Robot A, Semifuture Robot Technology Education Center, Shanghai, China
Middle School: 555A, Gladiators, KraftWerx, Brampton, Ontario, Canada
VEX IQ Challenge Excellence Award

Elementary School: 42037, Rockin Robots, Shiloh Point Elementary, Cumming, Georgia, United States
Middle School: 999, Rising Phoenix, Capital Robotics Club, McLean, Virginia, United States
This year's VEX Robotics World Championship hosted 1,400 teams from over 30 nations worldwide. The week-long competition is a celebration of STEM education, the year-long work of each student-led robotics team, and diversity in the high-tech field of competitive robotics.

"While competition is at the heart of the VEX Robotics World Championship, our time in Louisville is meant to unite the global STEM community. Each year attendees, teams and event volunteers all have the pleasure of experiencing the magic of robotics through the fantastic work of these students and their instructors," said Jason Morrella, president of the REC Foundation. "As we celebrate our 10-year anniversary, we're humbled to see the exponential growth of the program, and honored to be working with the Northrop Grumman Foundation, VEX Robotics and all our amazing partners to host another successful world championship."

The VEX Robotics World Championship kicked off at the Kentucky Exposition Center on Thursday, April 20 with an Opening Ceremony and the Parade of Nations. A week of head-to-head matches followed, concluding with the Finals and the Closing Award Ceremonies on Tuesday, April 25.

The VEX Robotics World Championship is comprised of five programs: VEX IQ Challenge Elementary School World Championship (ages 8-10), VEX IQ Challenge Middle School World Championship (ages 11-14), VEX Robotics Competition Middle School World Championship (ages 11-14), VEX Robotics Competition High School World Championship (ages 14-18) and VEX U (ages 18+).

The event is presented by the REC Foundation and the Northrop Grumman Foundation, and is sponsored by Autodesk, Chevron, Dell EMC, NASA, Google, Texas Instruments, HEXBUG, Robomatter, Rack Solutions and Innovation First International. For more information, please visit http://www.vexworlds.com.

About the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation
The REC Foundation seeks to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, sustainable and affordable curriculum-based robotics engineering programs across the U.S. and internationally. The REC Foundation develops partnerships with K-12 education, higher education, government, industry, and the non-profit community to achieve this work. For more information, please visit www.RoboticsEducation.org or for details on upcoming events, please visit www.RobotEvents.com.

About VEX Robotics
VEX Robotics is a leading provider of educational and competitive robotics products to schools, universities and robotics teams around the world. Their VEX IQ and VEX EDR product lines span elementary, middle, and high schools with accessible, scalable, and affordable robotics solutions. Beyond science and engineering principles, a VEX Robotics project encourages teamwork, leadership and problem solving among groups. It allows educators to easily customize projects to meet the level of students' abilities as they inspire & prepare the STEM problem-solvers of tomorrow.