San Ramon Students Win Top Awards At Global Robotics Competition

SAN RAMON, CA — Two San Ramon 7th graders won the Innovate Award and the Runner Up Award at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas.

Rudra Chopra, from Gale Ranch Middle School, and Vivaan Rawal, from Windemere Ranch Middle School, attended the VEX IQ Competition Middle School Event from April 30 to May 2.

The challenge required them to build a robot using VEX IQ parts to solve an engineering challenge presented in the form of the game. Chopra and Rawal were competing against 800 teams from 42 countries that also competed in one of the fastest-growing competitive robotics programs in the world.

“We are proud of these young students for their ability to take what they’ve learned by collaborating and applying their knowledge to building and programming a robot, and then going through the rigors of competing with their creation,” coaches Rajesh Chopra and Ajay Rawal said in a statement. “The VEX IQ Competition has truly sparked their natural curiosity about STEM subjects, which will serve them well throughout their education and lives.”

Last month, students from San Ramon and around the Tri-Valley qualified to attend the FIRST World Championship in Houston, after winning the Rookie All-Star Award at the Monterey Bay Regional FIRST Robotics semifinals competition and placing third at the San Francisco Regional competition.