STEM Competitions :: Northern Virginia Community College

We Do STEM Competitions

NOVA SySTEMic has built a solid reputation in Northern Virginia for supporting, organizing and hosting stellar robotics competitions, where students and teachers have the platform to develop and refine their STEM talents. Research shows that students who participate in STEM competitions are more likely to pursue a STEM degree. In addition to robotics, we support competitions such as AFA CyberPatriot, the Cool Code Awards, and many Science Fairs, but our primary focus is VEX Robotics.

Why VEX?
We support VEX in Virginia because it is integrated into many of the school divisions through PLTW, Scouts, and TSA, making it an excellent platform to get students started in STEM so that they are prepared beyond our camps and competitions. Students who participate in VEX robotics demonstrate a number of qualities we strive to teach such as teamwork, collaboration, creativity in problem solving, communication, critical thinking skills and time management. It is an all-encompassing gateway to future STEM programs, degrees and careers!

Signature Events

Night at the Museum

Night at the Museum is a two-day VEX Robotics Competition (VRC) signature event at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA in January. Teams qualify for this event by winning the Excellence, Design, or Robot Skills awards or as Tournament Champions in regional competitions. 60 high school teams from around the nation will compete for 3 VEX World Championship spots later in the year.

Registration
To register and for more info click here.

Volunteers
To volunteer at NATM click here.

NATM Infographic Map
Check out our 2020 NATM national participation infographic here.

Photo Gallery
Click here for photos from NATM19.

State Championship

In March we run the Virginia VEX State Championship (called States), the culminating robotics event in the Commonwealth that celebrates the hard work of students and mentors who have competed to qualify throughout the robotics competition season (November through February). States invites 140 of the best teams to compete for a chance to represent Virginia at the VEX World Championship in April. This is a great opportunity to reach students who are passionate about STEM! There are two VEX platforms at States19, VIQC (plastic-based robots, elementary & middle school divisions) and VRC (metal-based robots, middle and high school divisions).

Registration
VIQC Elementary
VIQC Middle School
VRC Middle School
VRC High School

Volunteers
To volunteer at States20 click here.

Photo Gallery
Click here for photos from States19, States18 and States17.
Password to view gallery is NOVAVEX.

Supporting Robotics and the Community

Volunteering

Volunteers are a key component to the success of our program because they help make events safe and enjoyable for all participants. We need industry professionals and college students in many capacities to influence and act as role models, particularly as competition judges and referees. Competitions are also a great networking opportunity to engage students who are pursuing engineering and computer science.

To volunteer at Night at the Museum (NATM20), click here.

To volunteer at States20, click here.

Questions?
For questions about volunteer opportunities contact NOVA SySTEMic Robotics Lead Jose Algarin at jalgarin@nvcc.edu

Volunteer 1-page Brochure PDF.

Sponsoring

Through financial sponsorship, you make it possible for us to support the 500+ VEX teams in Virginia. Your support keeps our event partner and volunteer training free to all, reduces entry fees for signature events, stocks 3 competition trailers for use throughout the region and supports community teams that don’t have a local school or organization to host them. Companies often provide prizes with tournament awards and giveaways for each participant such as flash drives or powerpacks.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Night at the Museum: 10K Signature Champion 5K Competition Advocate 2.5K Skills Developer 1K Giveaway Provider	State Championship: 10K Presenting Sponsor 5K Skills Challenge Sponsor 2K Field Sponsor 1K Lunch Sponsor $500 Breakfast Sponsor
Trailer Sponsor: 5K Regional Sponsor 2.5K Tournament Sponsor 1K Training Sponsor	Community Teams: 2K Gold Sponsor 1K Silver Sponsor $500 Bronze Sponsor

Sponsor 1-page Brochure PDF.

Interested in Sponsoring?
Please contact Josh Labrie at 703.530.2829 or jlabrie@nvcc.edu

Community Opportunities & Resources

Community Robotics Teams

Looking for a robotics team for your 4th-12th grade child? Join our community-based VEX IQ (elementary and middle school) and VEX Robotics (middle and high school) teams for the 2019-2020 school year in Manassas, Alexandria, and Loudoun! These teams will compete in the VEX IQ Challenge or VEX Robotics Competition.

Interest meetings for the upcoming season will take place in August in all 3 locations. Click here to sign up for one of these meetings based on the location that fits you best. Official team registration will open after the interest meetings and weekly team meetings will begin in September on Tuesday evenings (Manassas) and Thursday evenings (Alexandria, Loudoun) from 6-8:30pm. Occasional Saturdays also required.

View the Community Team Powerpoint Presentation.

More Info:
Contact NOVA SySTEMic Robotics Lead Jose Algarin at jalgarin@nvcc.edu

VEX IQ League

Community VEX IQ teams from NOVA and area schools participate in the NOVA VEX IQ League, which is open to area VEX IQ elementary and middle school teams from public and private organizations. Teams compete one Saturday a month from October to February that culminates with the League Championship.

At each session, teams participate in teamwork matches where they are paired with a random partner and work together to score as many points as they can and skills challenges where teams compete on their own to score what they can in driving and autonomous programming.

Throughout the season, teams improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their robot designs and try increase their position in the league rankings. Four teams from this league earned spots at the State Championship this past season.

Interested in Joining the League?

Registration Info

Contact NOVA SySTEMic Robotics Lead Jose Algarin at jalgarin@nvcc.edu.

Event Partner & Volunteer Training

We host free VEX Robotics training sessions to assist individuals, organizations and teams running competitions. This consists of 2-part meetings to prepare and equip partners for their events: Part 1 Planning the Event, centers on reserving a space, preparing equipment and setting up teams to register. Part 2, Running the Event, is focused on setting up fields, camera use, and logistics.

We also provide training for those who want to be Head Judges, Head Referees, Field Referees as well as general training on competition equipment setup and tournament manager setup. Some volunteer training is only needed on the day of the event.

Next Training Session:
Nov 2, 2019
Sign up at workshop.novastem.us/EPVtraining.
For more info contact NOVA SySTEMic Robotics Lead Jose Algarin at jalgarin@nvcc.edu.