A LEGO EV3 robot completes an
autonomous mission at the World
Robot Olympiad U.S. National
Championship at Fairmont
State University in September.
Photo by William Wong.
ALICIA WILLARD
Inside the Alliance
Building a
Generation
of Innovators
West Virginia
Robotics Alliance
Rivalry, teamwork and off-season training. While these
words might conjure images of a football field, basketball court
or weight room, they also apply to the world of competitive
robotics. West Virginia is poised to become the eighth state in
the nation to recognize robotics as a varsity sport, and thanks
to the work of the West Virginia Robotics Alliance, students
in grades K-12 are excelling in this arena.
From students as young as 5 who simply love Legos to
college-aged science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)
students seeking employment, the benefits of the competitive
yet team- and solutions-oriented environment this alliance
provides are priceless. NASA and Fairmont State University
(FSU) have formed a unique partnership with 12 different
competitive programs and numerous other institutions across
the Mountain State to connect students with STEM employers
through robotics competitions, prepare youth for future STEM
careers and increase opportunities for young West Virginians
that allow them to live and prosper in the state they call home.
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WEST VIRGINIA EXECUTIVE
This grant-funded alliance is managed by FSU within its
Education Resource Center (ERC) and is an initiative within
NASA’s nationwide Independent Verification and Validation
Program (IV&V) in Fairmont, WV. The IV&V’s Robotics
Alliance Project leverages competitive robotics programs to
create a human, technical and programmatic resource pool
of robotics capabilities to enable the implementation of future
robotic space exploration missions.
“We coordinate more than 35 tournaments a year, which
are hosted and managed by more than a dozen education and
nonprofit partners across the state and funded by a consortium
of public, private and government grants and sponsorships,”
says Dr. Todd Ensign, ERC’s program manager.
Starting in 2012 with the For Inspiration and Recognition
of Science and Technology (FIRST) LEGO League state cham-
pionship in competitive robotics, the ERC began hosting and
managing all aspects of the competitive programs, including
fundraising, date and location selection and recruiting and
training tournament hosts, volunteers, coaches and students.
Within two years, the competitive robotics programs grew
from approximately 75 teams statewide participating in three
programs to more than 500 teams participating in more than
a dozen programs.
“Because of the alliance, our children can work with parents,
teachers and mentors locally to learn the necessary skills of
teamwork, problem solving, computer coding, engineering,
science and mathematics, which will help them in both their
education and any career they choose,” says Ensign. “The part-
nership helps our communities by bringing families to nearby
colleges and universities where they are able to meet faculty,
visit facilities and even earn scholarships, thus breaking down
barriers to participation in post-secondary education.”
The alliance’s goals are to showcase West Virginia as a national
leader in robotics education, create an environment where
student robotics is respected as a team sport and increase the
percentage of students earning post-secondary certifications
and degrees in STEM.
“Statewide, our students are given an opportunity to excel at
not only regional but state championships, and those winners
go on to represent West Virginia at world championships
where we have repeatedly won recognition as some of the