WVU Tech robotics team cracks global top 15, earns spot at world championship

BECKLEY, W.Va. (WVVA) – The VEX Robotics team from West Virginia University Institute of Technology is now ranked 13th in the world and has qualified for the VEX World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri next month.

WVU Tech said its team, WVUTE1, went undefeated at a recent VEX Robotics Tournament in Fairmont and swept the top three awards: excellence, tournament champion and skills. Team leader Alexander Franck, a junior mechanical engineering major from South Charleston, called the sweep a “triple crown” and said it’s a tough feat to pull off.

WVU Tech said the team posted a 192-point score in the individual team skills event, placing them 11th globally in that category and 4th among US teams after the Fairmont competition.

The school said the top 100 teams in the world qualify for the VEX World Championship. Franck, who founded the robotics club as a freshman, said the group has grown to 11 members and is expected to keep growing next year.

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