In November 2025, Brandon Petersen served as Judge Advisor at the Show Me Gateway VEX IQ Middle School Signature Event in St. Charles, Missouri — a two-day signature-level VEX IQ competition.
The Event
Dates: Wednesday–Thursday, November 19–20, 2025
Location: St. Charles Convention Center, 1 Convention Center Boulevard, Saint Charles, Missouri 63303
The event brought together 55 teams from three countries — teams from Taipei, Canada, and the United States. Nine awards were judged across both days.
Judge Schedule
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| Wed, Nov 19 — 11:00–11:30 AM | Judge Check-In |
| 11:30 AM | Judges Meeting |
| 12:00 PM | Doors Open for Teams |
| 12:00–2:00 PM | Team Registration / Inspections / Skills / Judging Begins |
| 2:00 PM | Team Procession |
| 2:45 PM | Opening Ceremony and Event Meeting |
| 3:00–6:30 PM | Qualification Matches and Skills |
| Thu, Nov 20 — 8:00 AM | Doors Open |
| 8:15 AM–12:00 PM | Matches / Skills / Judging Continues |
| 12:00–12:30 PM | Lunch |
| 12:30–3:00 PM | Qualification Matches |
| 3:00–4:00 PM | Finals, Awards, and Closing Ceremony |
Judging Platform
The event used RoboMentors as the digital judging platform, allowing judges to review team submissions and coordinate award discussions throughout the event.
Special Thanks
A special thank you to Mary and Joe Uchytil from RoboMentors for providing leadership, technical support, and guidance throughout the event. Their commitment to helping teams, volunteers, and event partners had a significant impact on how smoothly the event ran.
Thanks also to event partners Royal Asimov and Keith Kramer, who led much of the setup, coordination, and planning that made the weekend a success.
Experienced judges make a huge difference at signature events. If you're interested in serving as a judge at VEX IQ events, start with the REC Foundation Judge training and connect with gainingSTEAM.