The Van Hoosen Middle School Robotics Team, “Odin’s Robots,” is successfully led by eight sixth grade students. Recently, the team made a special appearance at Dayco’s headquarters located in Troy, Michigan, to unveil their strategic plan for success at the upcoming 2019 VEX IQ world championships. While at Dayco, the students presented the different techniques and strategies they’ve developed as a team and conducted a live demonstration to show what it will take to become a 2019 champion.

Van Hoosen is one of nine teams from Michigan to qualify for the competition and one of 400 teams to qualify globally to participate in the world championships being held April 28-30 in Louisville, Kentucky. The sixth graders shared with Dayco their robot’s key design features, pointing out that the robot was engineered entirely out of VEX-approved parts and VEX-approved software. When planning the design, they made sure to focus on key components, including the robot’s driving abilities, programming skills and its ability to perform alliance work.

When learning about the opportunity, Dayco said it eagerly jumped on board to support Odin’s Robots and will be involved with the sixth graders’ initiatives, as they make their way to the championships in Louisville.

“Dayco’s generous sponsorship came as quite a pleasant surprise from the team. We are very appreciative of the support and look forward to competing in Louisville,” said Shanti Raj, Van Hoosen Middle School robotics coach.

The team will use the sponsorship to apply toward registration fees, hotel accommodations and other travel expenses.

“Dayco’s community involvement initiatives and the opportunity to support a team of dedicated and motivated students, couldn’t be a more perfect fit. We look forward to hearing about their competition and wish them the best of luck at the world championships,” said Jake Santora, vice president OE sales.

For more information about the 2019 VEX IQ world championships, visit robotevents.com.