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QE is the first UK school ever to win a world title in the Vex IQ Challenge international robotics finals.

The QE pupils emerged to take the Excellence Award at the finals in Louisville, Kentucky, which holds a Guinness World Record as the world’s largest robotics competition. The Excellence award is the highest presented in the VEX IQ programme, going to the team that exemplifies overall excellence in building a high-quality robotics programme.

They saw off no fewer than 400 teams from 40 countries – including leading schools from the US and China which have usually provided the winners throughout the competition’s 11-year history. It was only the second year that boys at QE had participated in VEX Robotics, having become UK national champions during their first season in 2017.

The QE boys were judged on their robot design, programming skills, driving skills and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) research project, with all of the judges in their division agreeing they were the overall ‘best of the best’.

QE’s Head of Technology, Michael Noonan, said: “This is a truly phenomenal achievement and far surpasses all our expectations. It is a hugely competitive event, which attracts some of the most intelligent young minds in the world. The Year 9 Gear Squad team were especially commended and, together with our Year 8 Technogear team, demonstrated a voracious hunger for success whilst retaining their humility.

“Gear Squad and Technogear greatly impressed the judges with their confident and student-led presentations and explanations. In fact, the most notable aspect of the VEX IQ programme at Queen Elizabeth’s is that it is entirely student-led.

“I am absolutely delighted and infinitely proud of the students involved, and this marks the ultimate testament to their hard work, dedication and countless hours refining their robotic solutions and programmes.”

It is estimated that there are 8,500 VEX IQ teams around the world. The VEX IQ challenge is aimed at pupils from Years 5-9.

Year 9 pupil Dillan Shah, of Gear Squad, said: “It was an honour to represent the UK as well as our School and meet all the fabulous people from around the world. It was a truly amazing experience.”

Despite nationwide challenges in getting young people to pursue STEM careers, QE and other teams taking part from the UK showed that British pupils can not only compete but be leaders in this field, supported in their preparations by both curricular and extra-curricular programmes, said the organisers. In fact, QE is ranked in the top ten UK schools for take-up and performance in the STEM subjects, and no fewer than 22 of last year’s leavers went on to read Engineering at university.

Bridie Gaynor, VEX Robotics Competition Manager (UK & Europe), said: “We are extremely proud of the work VEX Robotics does in the UK to encourage not only a passion for robotics but also much sought-after skills. To see Queen Elizabeth’s School, a UK team, on stage accepting the Excellence Award was a truly landmark moment for VEX Robotics in the UK. We are so proud that UK teams are now a force to be reckoned with.”

The 400 teams taking part were split into five divisions of 80. The VEX IQ competition is multi-faceted: in addition to the overall Excellence Award, within each division there were prizes for categories such as the STEM research project, design booklet competition, teamwork challenge and robot skills competition.

Mr Noonan added that the criteria for winning the Excellence Award included being “a shining example of dedication, devotion, hard work and teamwork”. The award took into account the performance and subsequent rankings of the winners in all competitions within the overall event, but was ultimately decided by interviews from the chief judges. He added that it was clear that both QE teams benefited from being pupil-led “as they demonstrated an outstanding amount of independence at the world stage in solving problems and performing to their optimum”.

Gear Squad consists of Year 9 boys Vihaan Jain, Varun Vijay Kumar, Shilacshan Lingakumar, Dillan Shah and Alex Woodcock. Technogear comprises five Year 8 boys: Arjun Arunkumar, Dylan Domb, Aditya Khanna, Anish Rana and Yash Shah. The boys were accompanied to the US by Mr Shane Ryan (Technology) and Mr Jonathan Leigh (Physics).

Four QE teams are gearing up for the challenge of the world finals of a robotics competition at the end of April, following their successful qualification.

Two senior teams, Hybrid Alpha and Beta, won places in the VEX EDR Robotics World Championships in the USA at the School’s very first attempt. And at the VEX IQ junior level, a further two teams, Gear Squad and Technogear, are also heading for the finals in Louisville, Kentucky, having matched the feat of the double qualification by QE teams in 2017, the first year the School had entered the junior competition.

The boys’ efforts have been boosted by the support of the Foundation Trustees and of one particular OE, Sachin Dev Duggal (1994–2001), who is an AI entrepreneur.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Having no fewer than four teams in the world finals of this extremely popular competition represents an achievement of the very highest order. I know that the boys will be enjoying their Easter holidays in eager anticipation of their trip to the States, where we all wish them even greater success.”

Hybrid Alpha qualified after taking the Excellence Award in the regional EDR event at Stowe School during the winter. Then, at the national finals held at Telford International Centre, the other senior team, Beta, picked up the highly sought-after Design Award for the design process itself and their excellent logging and tracking of it, which secured them a berth at the World Championship.

Mr Noonan commended Alpha’s “extremely accomplished performance”, adding: “Beta proved they have what it takes when the chips are really down on a national stage. Both teams have done superbly in their senior competition debut.”

Gear Squad qualified at the IQ national finals, also at Telford, by retaining the Teamwork Champions title won by QE last year, whilst Technogear won the Design Award in the junior category. “In the biggest national finals yet, the boys held their nerve and performed valiantly,” Mr Noonan said.

The Alpha team is made up of: Year 12’s Aadi Desai, together with Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy, Bhargab Ghoshal, James Tan and Ukendar Vadivel, all of Year 10. The Beta team comprises: Dilan Sheth, of Year 12, along with Daniel Radzik-Rahman, Yai Sagolsem, Devin Karia and Sunay Challa, from Year 10. Gear Squad consists of Year 9 boys Vihaan Jain, Varun Vijay Kumar, Shilacshan Lingakumar, Dillan Shah and Alex Woodcock. Technogear comprises five Year 8 boys: Arjun Arunkumar, Dylan Domb, Aditya Khanna, Anish Rana and Yash Shah.

Five senior boys have won an early place in the global finals of a robotics event in the US, while other QE teams continue their onward march in competition by winning a string of accolades.

It is QE’s very first year of participation in the senior robotics competition, called VEX EDR. Last year, QE took part in the junior category, VEX IQ, for the first time and two teams from the School qualified for a place in the 2017 world championship, also held in the US.

The EDR team, HYBRID ALPHA, won their automatic place in the 2018 Vex Robotics World Championship in Louisville, Kentucky, in April, by scooping the Excellence Award in the regional EDR event at Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. QE’s ALPHA and BETA teams were pitted against teams from Coventry, Buckingham and Kent, as well as other London schools.

Alex Saika, judge for the award at Stowe and a member of the British university robotics team, praised ALPHA on the day: “This team has demonstrated excellence throughout the competition, and although they narrowly lost out in the teamwork final, we felt that they were the most consistent throughout, and have shown an overall excellent approach to solving engineering problems throughout their journey.”

The EDR competition featured a new game, The Zone, played on a 12ft x 12ft pitch, in which two alliances, comprising two teams each, competed in activities including stacking cones on goals and parking their robots.

Congratulating ALPHA, Head of Technology Michael Noonan said: “Many of the other schools competing have been a part of this particular competition for a number of years, which makes this feat all the more impressive. The award made for an especially “sweet finish to the day.”

The ALPHA team are: Year 12’s Aadi Desai, together with Deshraam Ganeshamoorthy, Bhargab Ghoshal, James Tan and Ukendar Vadivel, all of Year 10.

“Not to be outdone by ALPHA, BETA achieved an accolade of their own, winning the Design Award,” Mr Noonan said. “This award is usually given to the team which finishes second in the standings for the Excellence award, and, had it not been for some earlier malfunctions, they might have had seats on the plane to the US.”

The BETA boys still have the opportunity to progress further when they compete in the National Championships in Telford in March.

The awards won at Stowe are the fourth and fifth awards accrued by the EDR teams in regional rounds so far this year, with ALPHA also winning the Judges Award at the Welwyn regional event and the Teamwork Champion and Design awards at the event hosted by Greig City Academy in Hornsey.

At IQ junior level, the QE participants, who are drawn from Years 8 and 9, have also performed strongly as they aim to emulate the achievements of last year’s teams. Against a backdrop of stiff competition from a record number of teams – and with more qualifying events still to come – three Year 9 teams, Gear Squad, Snake Byte and ECHO, have now won places in their national finals, which take place in Telford the day before the EDR finals.

“Their most challenging competition to date was undoubtedly The Henrietta Barnett School regional event, where Gear Squad were named Teamwork Champions and narrowly missed out on the automatic World Championship-qualifying Excellence Award,” said Mr Noonan. “On the same day, Gear Squad also picked up the Design Award, Snake Byte won the STEM Research award, and – our surprise package of the day – Year 8 team Technogear won the Judges Award.” Mr Noonan is hopeful that Technogear and fellow Year 8 competitors, Supercharge, will yet qualify.

“Other awards won already this year by teams include the Teamwork Champion and Judges awards won by Gear Squad at the Fortismere regional and the Judges Award won by Snake Byte at the Essex regional.”

IQ’s new game this year is called Ringmaster. It involves two robots working collaboratively in 60-second matches on a 4ft x 8ft rectangular surface to complete tasks including scoring goals with coloured rings.

The VEX robotics competitions are run to promote the use of Mathematics and Physics and to teach the basic principles of robotics through team-based design-and-make challenges. There are almost 3,000 teams worldwide across the IQ and EDR formats, with China and the US particularly prominent.

Year 12 pupils Ibrahim Faruqi, Shaun Kapur, Ian Leung and Ankit Mehta were awarded maximum marks in their Engineering Education Scheme project.

The boys’ brief, set by Lovell Partnerships, was to design a solution to the problems of fire safety in the construction of timber frame housing. Colin Clifton, regional director for the EES praised the team on their project and acknowledged he had only seen a perfect score once before in the 10 years he has directed the scheme.

The panel was so impressed with the team’s proposals that their report is to be sent to the Health & Safety Executive for the findings to be assessed.

The boys also achieved the prestigious CREST gold award for engineering excellence.

QE has maintained its strong record of success in a national team competition that challenges young people to devise innovative ways of powering the cities of the future.

Having won the Shell Bright Ideas Challenge last year – the first time QE had entered – the School took second place in the 2017 competition, winning prize money of £4,000. In addition, the boys each received a tablet computer.

Technology teacher Shane Ryan said: “This represents a great achievement for the School and I congratulate all five boys in our team. The prize money will be invested into teaching resources for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths – the STEM subjects.”

Competition entrants were given the task of using their STEM skills to devise creative solutions to the energy challenges that cities will face in 2050.

The QE team, called TRACESE, came up with the idea of bacteria generators stored under every home that would break down food waste. This process would allow electrons to be extracted, which would, in turn, power households.

As competition prize-winners, they were treated to a VIP experience at Make the Future Live, a four-day festival of ideas and innovation, hosted by Shell at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which featured science shows, hands-on activities, interactive exhibits and careers experiences. They received wristbands allowing them to queue-jump at the exhibits and were given a free lunch, while also enjoying the opportunity to talk to Mathematics expert and TV celebrity Rachel Riley.

The team, all from Year 9, were, Gabriel Bednarkiewicz, Kaustubh Bhatnagar, Agsathan Ilamurugan, Janujan Satchi and Rukshaan Selvendira.