When Robots Take Over
The world’s largest robotics championship to converge on Dallas. By David Lee
This spring, more than 30,000 people from across the U.S. and more than 30 other countries will converge on Dallas for the largest and most intense robotics competition in the world. Nearly 3,500 teams will compete in the VEX Robotics World Championship May 3-12 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Last year, due to COVID, the annual event pivoted to a live virtual platform that still attracted more than 1,400 international teams and was recognized by Guinness World Records as the Largest Online Robot Championship.
The Robotics Education & Competition (REC) Foundation will host the event in partnership with VEX Robotics. VEX is an international educational robotics company producing robotics equipment for many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs and competitions. The REC Foundation provides educational programs encouraging student interest and involvement in STEM. Both companies are headquartered in Greenville, Texas, so it’s a perfect fit to host their largest annual event in their own backyard.
“The REC Foundation and VEX Robotics are thrilled to host the world’s largest robotics competition in Dallas, Texas,” says Dan Mantz, CEO of the REC Foundation. “We know that Dallas and the surrounding communities are committed to developing our future workforce. We are excited to share with the world how North Texas is a leader in innovation and STEM education.”
just booming in Dallas, and that’s what we really want the students to see.” Downtown Dallas hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues and transportation offer a mini-vacation for attendees to explore. “It’s a week-long competition, so the students don’t just want to sit in the convention center for a week,” Kelsey adds. “DART is a huge help and such a convenient way to get around this city. Then you have places like the Perot Museum that caters specifically to these students where the VEX products are showcased. This is right in our Vex Robotics Rounders' backyard, and it’s extremely important to them that they’re supporting their community.”
Spectators can watch from the stands and cheer students on as they advance in the tournament. Students, parents, teachers, sponsors and staff will experience the unique culture and hospitality that makes Dallas such a hot international destination. The week-long tournament will be packed with several other events and activities promoting STEM learning and future career - Kelsey Calhoun, Donor Relations Manager opportunities.
It’s really amazing to see how robotics is giving students a voice and how these students work together.
In an area that has hosted a huge variety of major sports events such as Super Bowl XLV, the NCAA Final for the REC Foundation “We’ve partnered with the Four and the College Football Dallas Sports Commission to bring this event to Dallas, Playoff, and international soccer tournaments, the VEX and we’re so excited that we’re able to bring this Robotics World Championship reflects the diversity of competition here,” says Kelsey Calhoun, Donor the Dallas community. At its core are the same principles Relations Manager for the REC Foundation. “Dallas that make sports so captivating—teamwork, competition, is just a huge hub for STEM education. We want our problem-solving and achievement. students to see what these competitions can do to provide for them in their future. All kinds of STEM jobs “It’s really amazing to see how robotics is giving students
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a voice and how these students work together,” Kelsey says. “Seeing that teamwork is really incredible. These students compete against each other from all over the country and actually form alliances. So, a team from China could be competing against a team from Texas with a team from Kentucky.”
VEX Robotics World Championship Quick Facts
One of the lasting impacts VEX Robotics and the REC Foundation hopes to make on the Dallas community is to inspire students to pursue STEM careers. Sponsorships into earmarked team grants. There also are various volunteer and vendor opportunities. To help high school students connect with colleges, a “college row” will feature representatives from universities all over the country. A kickoff event will be held at the Perot Museum Oct. 13 at 6:00 p.m. CT for organizations to learn different ways to support the World Championship and the thousands of competitors.
• May 3-12, 2022 at Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. • More than 30,000 expected to attend with more than 30 countries represented. • Opening Ceremony kicks off the competition on Tuesday, May 3. • Last year’s live-streamed event was recognized by Guinness World Records as the largest online robot championship ever. • Kickoff event to be held at the Perot Museum Oct. 13 at 6:00 p.m. CT.
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Pony Up Dallas
How Southern Methodist University became Dallas’ Team By Jean-Jacques Taylor
SMU coach Sonny Dykes arrived with a simple plan to make the Mustangs football program consistently relevant for the first time in decades. He wanted to win football games with Dallas-Fort Worth players - and he didn’t care if they joined SMU right out of high school or arrived via the transfer portal. Well, Dykes and his staff have executed the plan perfectly, and the result is he’s resurrected a moribund football program. The Mustangs are 3-0 this season after a Hail Mary win over Louisiana Tech on Sept. 18. “Selfishly, SMU is not going to be any good at football if we can't recruit Dallas, and we can't draw the interest of the local community,” said Dykes, “so the bottom line is for us to have any kind of long term success, we’re reliant on not only SMU people, but Dallas to get on board, support us and be fans.” Anthony Crespino, Dykes’ chief of staff, is in charge of football operations and creative media. He’s been BEHIND THE BANNER
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instrumental in helping Dykes implement his vision. Dykes went 22-13 in his first three seasons at SMU. In the last 30 years, only former coach June Jones (23-17) had more wins than Dykes in his first three years at SMU.
But Jones’ teams didn’t improve in years four and five, ultimately leading to a change. Dykes, the first coach since Bobby Collins in 1984 to post a 10-win season at SMU, is building a consistent winner in his fourth full season at SMU. The city and it’s suburbs, said Dykes, have embraced SMU approach. SU has strategically placed billboards all over the city, highlighting some of its players who were “born and raised” in Dallas.
it’s special . Our players believe that and they’ve bought into it.” There have also been camps and giveaways and community service. It’s clear, SMU wants to be Dallas’ football team. This is a metropolitan area with more than seven million residents; SMU is only trying to get 32,000 in Gerald J. Ford Stadium each week. So far, Dykes’ plan is working.
Crespino came to SMU from Northwestern. He said a similar marketing campaign was launched in Chicago because Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald grew up in Chicago. He just tweaked the campaign to make it work with SMU.
SMU’s roster has 47 players from Dallas-Fort Worth, and the vast majority of their players are from Texas. SMU has also had considerable success with the transfer portal, which is one reason, Dykes has been able to build his roster so fast.
“When a kid drives by that going to school, he goes “I can play football at SMU or go to SMU or do something significant with my life,'" Dykes said. “I think it’s just good for our community.
Dallas-Fort Worth produces so many good players that many accept scholarships from out-of-state. It doesn’t work out for some of them, so they wound up transferring. SMU is willing and ready to take them.
“If you're a college you're supposed to serve your community. I think that's just what we're supposed to do and I think that's, you know what we've tried to do.”
Former DeSoto star Reggie Roberson Jr. transferred from West Virginia after a productive freshman season. He’s been one of SMU’s best players since he arrived.
SMU has a set of uniforms with Dallas written in script across the front of the jersey, which pays homage to the old-school Dallas Texans logo. For the helmets, SMU put the team logo in the middle of the City of Dallas logo.
“He was the first big one, and he had such a great year. He was a high-profile guy and everybody knew who he was and there were a lot of eyeballs on him,” Dykes said. “So when he came here and had success, all of a sudden we start getting phone calls from guys that he knows from other schools and then it kind of took off from there.”
“We know how much it means for these guys to stay at home and play in front of their friends and family and it means even more if they started their careers elsewhere,” Crespino said. “When you wear Dallas across your chest,
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SMU
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