Over 15,000 Students From Around the World Gathered in Louisville, Kentucky!

GREENVILLE, Texas, April 20, 2015 -- Over the weekend, more than 850 teams from 29 nations gathered at the Kentucky Exposition Center to compete with custom-built robots during three days of intense back-to-back matches. Teams sought to be crowned champions of VEX Worlds 2015, the culminating event of the season, presented by the Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation and the Northrop Grumman Foundation. Teams from China, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States prevailed, taking home the highly coveted Championship Trophies for the VEX IQ Elementary & Middle School World Championships, the VEX Robotics Competition Middle & High School World Championships, and the VEX U World Championship.

"These students spent countless hours designing, building, programming and testing their robots over the course of the season at more than 1,000 local, state, and regional competitions," said Jason Morrella, President of the REC Foundation. "The truth is that all of these students leave the competition as winners. The teamwork and problem-solving skills they take away from this experience will successfully prepare them for future careers in STEM fields and serve them throughout their lives."

The global championship kicked off Thursday with a festive parade of nations, where students from all the teams made their way into Freedom Hall to proudly display their respective country's colorful flags. Following the parade, the teams began an intense afternoon of back-to-back qualification matches and skills challenges. On Friday, the excitement was palpable as teams continued to run through qualifications, and closed the day with the 2015-2016 New Game Reveal. By Saturday, qualification rounds ended and the top performing teams went through the alliance selection process. A stunning pyrotechnic and light show experience lent a festive atmosphere as teams entered into finals and award ceremonies.

Altogether, the best 850 VEX teams out of more than 12,000 teams worldwide qualified to compete in one of five program divisions hosted by the REC Foundation this past weekend. The competitions included: 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 15-18) and VEX U (ages 18+).

The 2015 VEX Worlds Championship Alliance Winners are as follows:

* The VEX IQ Challenge Elementary School Teamwork Challenge Winning Alliance included team 15A, Crescent Crazy Stackers, from Crescent Elementary School in Anaheim, Calif. and team 10656, Hongkou Central Primary School, from Shanghai, China.
* The VEX IQ Challenge Middle School Teamwork Challenge Winning Alliance included team 2587X, DiscoBots - Xray, from Houston, Texas and team 7065A, Elementrix, from Yabucoa, Puerto Rico.
* The VEX Robotics Competition Middle School World Championship Winning Alliance included team 8193A, Shanghai Yongchang Private School, from China, and teams 8066A and 8066C, Atom and Thor, from Hai Sing Catholic School in Singapore.
* The VEX Robotics Competition High School World Championship Winning Alliance included team 2915A, Lynnfield College Robotics, from Auckland, New Zealand, team 9090C, T-VEX, from the Mandarin Chinese School, from Arlington, Texas, and team 2131C, Davis High School, from Kaysville, Utah.
* The VEX U World Championship team was team QCC2, Blue Rooster Robotics, from Worcester, Mass.

One team from each of the five program divisions also received the Excellence Award, the highest honor at VEX Worlds, given to the team with the most well rounded VEX Robotics program. Team 15B, Crescent Crazy Stackers, from Crescent Elementary School in Anaheim, Calif. received the Excellence Award for the VEX IQ Challenge Elementary School Division. Team 8899Y, VEXexecutives, from Manatee County Robotics Club in Bradenton, Fla. received the Excellence Award for the VEX IQ Challenge Middle School Division. Team 7700B, Rolling Robots, from Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. was presented with the Excellent Award for the VEX Robotics Competition Middle School Division. Team 2918A, GCECA, from Glenfield College in Auckland, New Zealand received the Excellence Award for the VEX Robotics Competition High School Division. Team AURA, from Auckland University Robotics, in Auckland, New Zealand received the Excellence Award for VEX U Division.

Several other technical and value-based awards were presented to teams throughout the event. Below is a list of the teams and individuals that were recognized for excelling in some of the top categories. For a complete list of award winners, including winners of the online challenges, visit http://www.robotevents.com/championship.

For those looking forward to getting a jump on next year's robot designs, the 2015-2016 season games will be VEX Bank Shot (VEX IQ Challenge) and VEX Nothing But Net (VEX Robotics Competition).

Sponsors of the 2015 VEX Robotics World Championship included the Northrop Grumman Foundation, the U.S. Army, Chevron, EMC Corporation, NASA, Microchip, Robotmatter, Texas Instruments, HEXBUG and Innovation First International. In addition, the event is sponsored locally by Ford Motor Corporation, GE, Glowtouch, HelmsBriscoe, Mathworks, Nissan, Toyota Manufacturing of Kentucky, UPS, and the University of Louisville.

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.