Judging at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship
My experience serving as a judge, evaluating innovation, teamwork, and engineering excellence from teams around the globe.
This past spring, I had the incredible opportunity to serve as a judge at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship—an event that brought together some of the brightest young minds in robotics from across the globe. Hosted in an atmosphere of creativity, collaboration, and competition, the championship was a vibrant showcase of innovation and STEM excellence.
As a judge, I had the honor of evaluating teams not just on the functionality of their robots, but on their engineering design processes, teamwork, and problem-solving strategies. It was particularly moving to witness elementary and middle school students demonstrate a level of poise and technical sophistication well beyond their years. Teams like the champions from Beijing, China—pictured here holding their hard-earned trophy—stood out for their clear communication, thorough documentation, and resilient spirit in the face of engineering challenges.
The diversity of designs and strategies was fascinating, with each team approaching the year’s challenge from a unique angle. What unified them all, however, was a deep passion for robotics and an eagerness to learn—not just from their victories, but from their failures too.
This experience reminded me why events like VEX matter. They inspire the next generation of engineers, scientists, and leaders by putting real-world skills into action. It was an absolute privilege to play a role in encouraging their journeys.