Launching of the “A Year of Robotics 2024” program and the VEX Robotics National Championship 2024, July 12 in Hanoi. (Source: STEAM for Vietnam)

With the mission of helping Vietnamese students develop important skills for the future and be competitive in the global market through solid STEAM training from an early age, STEAM for Vietnam, the US Embassy in Hanoi and the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, and partners have launched the program "A Year of Robotics 2023". STEAM for Vietnam has chosen to teach the VEX IQ Robotics kit, the most modern educational Robotics component kit in the US, thereby providing Vietnamese students with access to international standards completely free of charge. More than 2,000 students, 500 teachers and 150 schools have the opportunity to learn and train Robotics for free through the CS 201 course: Introduction to Robotics Programming with VEX IQ. In May 2023, for the first time in history, 19 Vietnamese Robotics teams participated in the VEX IQ category at the world's largest Robotics Championship, VEX Robotics World Championship 2023 in Texas, USA. Vietnam ranked 5th in the world in terms of the largest number of international teams participating in VEX Robotics World Championship 2023 in its first participation and won 5 important awards. To achieve this, more than 150 teams from more than 30 provinces and cities across the country, including remote provinces such as Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Dong Thap participated in the VEX IQ National Championship 2023 organized by STEAM for Vietnam, the US Centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (under the US Embassy and Consulate in Vietnam) and Hanoi University of Science and Technology in February 2023. Following the success of the "A Year of Robotics 2023" program, STEAM for Vietnam, the US Mission to Vietnam and Hanoi University of Science and Technology continue to organize the "A Year of Robotics 2024" program. The program not only aims to bring modern Robotics education to Vietnamese students completely free of charge, bringing Vietnamese talents to compete in the international arena, but also fully equips domestic teachers with knowledge of Robotics. Recognizing the special importance of local teachers, the intensive training program for national teachers in the "Train the Trainers" program is one of the key programs of STEAM for Vietnam in 2023. The program includes an online resource library of training courses, lecture content, documents from VEX Robotics and live teacher training sessions from VEX Robotics experts within the framework of the STEAM Discovery Day "STEAMese Festival" in August 2023. The program aims to improve professional skills in programming and assembling VEX IQ Robotics and provide teachers with materials and a supportive community to confidently teach VEX IQ. In addition, following the success of the Robotics training program with VEX IQ for students from elementary to high school, the CS 202 training program: Introduction to Robotics Programming with VEX V5 for high school students nationwide is expected to be held in the fall of 2023. STEAM for Vietnam, the American Center in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and partners set a higher goal, selecting 40 Vietnamese teams in the two categories VIQRC and VRC to qualify for the VEX Robotics World Championship 2024 in Texas, USA.

A STEAM class in the Robotics training program with VEX IQ. (Source: STEAM for Vietnam)

The VEX Robotics National Championship 2024 is a festival for all students who are passionate about Robotics across the country and there are no barriers to gender, ethnicity and geography to compete. The goal of the tournament is to help students hone important skills for the future and have the opportunity to compete in the international arena. The tournament is organized according to REC Foundation standards with the goal of selecting 40 Vietnamese teams qualified to compete in the world's largest Robotics arena, VEX Robotics World Championship 2024. The tournament is expected to attract the participation of more than 300 teams in the VIQRC category and 50 teams in the VRC category. The tournament is co-organized by STEAM for Vietnam, the American Center in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (under the US Mission to Vietnam) and Hanoi University of Science and Technology, scheduled to take place in January 2024 in Hanoi. The VEX Robotics National Championship 2024 has 2 competition categories: VIQRC category using VEX IQ robots for Primary and Secondary school students (under 15 years old) and VRC category using VEX V5 robots for Secondary and High school students (under 19 years old). The official topics of the VEX Robotics 2023-2024 season are Full Volume for the VIQRC category and Over Under for the VRC category. Teams will compete in many challenges: Teamwork Challenge, Driving Skills Challenge and Programming Skills Challenge. The VEX Robotics National Championship 2024 will open applications from July 2023 and officially kick off in September 2023 with a series of exchange activities with schools across the country of STEAM for Vietnam. In addition, STEAM for Vietnam will build a library of exclusive training materials from VEX Robotics and a series of workshops connecting Robotics experts with teams to improve students' professional knowledge and competitive ability. In addition, STEAM for Vietnam will organize tutorials on how to organize VEX Robotics friendly tournaments according to REC Foundation standards to help schools across the country organize friendly Robotics tournaments and students have more opportunities to practice and compete. The VEX Robotics National Championship 2024 and the "A Year of Robotics 2024" project strongly demonstrate STEAM for Vietnam's mission to equip the future generation of Vietnam with a strong, world-class STEAM education and the most advanced technology to compete globally.

The VEX Robotics National Championship 2024 will open for applications from July 2023 and officially kick off in September 2023 with a series of exchange activities with schools across the country by STEAM for Vietnam. (Source: STEAM for Vietnam)

“We are very happy that students in all regions of Vietnam now have the opportunity to study and participate in challenges that are no different from those in developed countries like the US,” said Dr. Tran Viet Hung, co-founder of STEAM for Vietnam. “We hope that through experiences like this competition, students will gradually gain the skills and experience to compete in the global labor market in the future.” Mr. Cameron Thomas Shah, Spokesperson of the U.S. Mission to Vietnam shared: “This year, the United States and Vietnam celebrate the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Comprehensive Partnership. This framework includes cooperation in education, science and technology. The U.S. Mission to Vietnam, through the American Centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, is committed to honoring this partnership by providing educational opportunities to help Vietnamese students compete in the global economy, especially in the field of STEAM. This year's VEX Robotics National Championship continues the success of last year and is an important milestone." It is known that the University of Technology will support resources and resources in the Tournament and accompany STEAM for Vietnam in the mission of creating the next generation of global engineers. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Phong Dien - Vice President of the University of Technology affirmed that "The Vietnam VEX Robotics National Championship 2024 and the project "A Year of Robotics 2024" are very suitable for the goal of promoting STEM education to students, to attract students interested in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Cybernetics, and Programming to register for the University of Technology, improving the quality of input".

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