The 15th annual VEX Robotics State Championship is slated to start tomorrow, and Katie Frank is feeling all sorts of things: excited, proud, and ready to relax after the event.
Frank, the VEX Robotics and STEAM Outreach Coordinator at SCTCC, has been working months to coordinate and plan the event, which starts Thursday, Feb. 27 at River’s Edge Convention Center. The three-day competition invites VEX Robotics teams from all over the state for a chance to compete at the World Championship.
Before she was all things VEX at the college, Frank attended SCTCC and holds three degrees: Robotics & Automation Technology, Mechatronics, and Instrumentation & Process Control. The reason she attended SCTCC? VEX Robotics.
Frank got involved when she was a freshman at St. Cloud Tech High School when they were starting a Robotics Club. By her sophomore year, she knew she was coming to SCTCC.
“For me, VEX Robotics helped spark an interest. I was already interested in doing something with STEM, and VEX just helped solidify that decision that I do like working with my hands and being involved in STEM,” said Frank.
She knew she didn’t want to go into engineering, so when she met SCTCC instructor Aaron Barker and learned about the Robotics & Industrial Controls degree options, she made the decision. Frank continued VEX all through high school and even competed in VEX U, the college level.
VEX taught her many things, her favorite being making friends from all across Minnesota. Teams compete at tournaments all over the state during the regular season and meet other students with the same interests. In Frank’s current position, she sees some of her former competitors regularly and has gotten to know them better through their continued work with VEX Robotics.
What is VEX?
VEX is a worldwide, competitive robotics platform for students in elementary school through college, established in Texas in 2007. Currently, more than 50,000 teams compete in nearly 100 countries.
VEX in Minnesota started in 2011-2012. Andrew Dahlin, an instructor at Northland Community and Technical College, learned about VEX and was looking for partners to help him start a program statewide. Barker, Robotics instructor at SCTCC, jumped at the chance.
With the help of industry partners, they launched the first season of VEX Robotics with 45 teams, primarily high school. Soon after, VEX U started for college students and IQ for elementary students.
In the 2023-2024 season, 450 teams competed: over 14 years, the VEX program increased about 900%. The 2024-2025 season marks the 15th anniversary of the program in Minnesota, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
VEX is a program available to everyone regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, and ability. While the first few years were predominately teams of boys, the number of girls on teams has increased to 44% of participants.
“Ot’s really great to see because girls are able to, again, spark that interest at an early age and say, ‘yeah, that’s something that I want to do – I can do,’” said Frank.
How VEX works
Each year, teams are given a new game challenge to design, build, and program robots. The teams travel to tournaments across the state and implement changes to their robots based on how they perform. After the regular season, the teams wait for an invitation to the State Championship, where they compete for an invitation to the World Championship.
VEX to the future
VEX prepares students for several career opportunities, and since the program can start in elementary school, kids are exposed to options early.
“If you don’t have that initial connection, you might not even be able to picture yourself in a career,” Frank explained.
She has seen VEX steer students in many paths, including construction, manufacturing, and transportation, as well as non-trades careers.
“At the college we have former VEX Robotics students who are in a range of programs, anything from Automotive to Water Environment Technologies, Land Surveying, Robotics & Industrial Controls,” Frank shared.
Students have also graduated with degrees in Mechanical Design Engineering Technology and Welding – and that’s just from SCTCC. Many students who’ve competed in VEX choose an engineering or other path and attend a university.
And while most VEX competitors are planning for a STEM career, one of the principles the program teaches is soft skills that are critical to any industry a student chooses. Working with a team, communication, troubleshooting, and project management are just a few of those skills that will help participants in their future, both careerwise and personally.
One of the projects last season was to bring awareness of the wide variety of options available to VEX participants after graduating. On their social accounts, they shared stories of VEX alumni and what they are currently doing.
“A lot of these former students talked about how being in VEX Robotics actually helped them obtain an internship or job after they graduated either high school or college. VEX really sparked an interest for them in STEM and job opportunities they might not know about,” Frank said.
She would know, of course. The spark she felt while in VEX Robotics ultimately brought her to a place where she can help inspire the future for other students.