VEX IQ tournaments are multi-faceted events designed to give students many paths to shine. The 2018 Nebraska/Iowa VEX IQ Regional Championship offered an array of awards recognizing on-field performance, engineering process, research, and character.
Robot Performance Awards
Teamwork Champion (World Championship qualifier)
Awarded to the two teams on the 1st Place Teamwork Challenge Alliance in the finals.
Teamwork Challenge Second Place
Awarded to each team on the 2nd Place Teamwork Challenge Alliance.
Robot Skills Champion
Awarded to the team with the top combined Programming and Driving Skills Challenge score.
Standard Judged Awards
Excellence Award — Elementary School (World Championship qualifier)
Excellence Award — Middle School (World Championship qualifier)
The Excellence Award is the highest award in the VEX IQ Challenge. It recognizes overall excellence in building a well-rounded robotics program. Recipients must have both an Engineering Notebook and a STEM Research Project presentation.
Key criteria:
- Design Award ranking
- STEM Research Project Award ranking
- Teamwork Challenge Qualification ranking
- Robot Skills Challenge ranking
- Other judged award rankings
Design Award — Elementary School
Design Award — Middle School
Recognizes the team that demonstrates the most effective and efficient robot design process. Teams must submit Engineering Notebooks to be eligible. Judged using the VEX IQ Design Rubric.
Key criteria:
- Engineering Notebook is a clear, complete, and organized record of the design process
- Effective management of skills, time, and material resources
- Students can explain their game strategy and robot design
- Students demonstrate teamwork and communication skills
STEM Research Project Award
This year's STEM Research topic was Robotics Engineering and Ethics. Awarded to the team with the most effective STEM Research Project presentation, demonstrating significant depth of understanding of their topic and research findings.
Additional Judged Awards
| Award | Description |
|---|---|
| Judges Award | Special recognition for accomplishments that don't fit other categories |
| Sportsmanship Award | Demonstrates respect and great enthusiasm |
| Think Award | Robot utilizes effective programming |
| Inspire Award | Team that inspires the judges with their STEM Research Project |
| Create Award | Robot with a creative engineering solution |
Individual Awards
| Award | Description |
|---|---|
| Teacher of the Year | Recognizes an outstanding teacher |
| Volunteer of the Year | Recognizes an outstanding program or event volunteer |
World Championship Qualification
The 2018 Nebraska/Iowa Regional Championship offered four total World Championship qualification spots:
- Middle School Excellence Award
- Elementary School Excellence Award
- Teamwork Champion Team 1
- Teamwork Champion Team 2
STEM Research Presentations
STEM Research video presentations were required to be submitted before the event using the online submission form. The presentations were evaluated using the STEM Research Project Rubric and follow-up discussion with judges at the event.