Budding engineers from three East Ayrshire academies will travel to London to compete in the second annual VEX UK National Championships at the Excel Centre, during The Big Bang: Young Scientists and Engineers Fair, 14 – 17 March – where around 60,000 visitors are expected.

Thousands of pupils from all over the country have spent months building their robot creations – and now Grange Academy, Kilmarnock Academy and Doon Academy youngsters are preparing to do battle against all comers with their own inventions

The East Ayrshire teams – including current Scottish champions Grange Academy – will compete against 37 other teams – not only for the chance to be crowned UK champions, but also to head to the world championships in Anaheim, California, where they would go head to head with thousands of competitors from around the globe.

Kilmarnock Academy headteacher Bryan Paterson said: “Our young people have put an amazing amount of effort into this robotics project, led by technical teacher Tom Campbell, who last year won the Teacher of the Year trophy at the Scottish Education Awards.

“We have some exceptionally talented youngsters in Kilmarnock Academy and I can’t wait to see how they’ll do in the national championships in London”.

Grange Academy headteacher Fred Wildridge said: “I’m delighted that our team of young people, who won the Scottish regional heat, are now heading to London for the UK final. They have created a superb machine, working with Tom Barclay, our Principal Teacher of Design and Technology and the whole school is behind them”.

Doon Academy headteacher John MacKenzie said: “The six pupils in the Doon Academy team are members of our Robotics Master Class. Their enthusiasm for engineering and the support of their teacher, Miss Steel, led them to the finals of the regional heats, giving them the chance to compete in the UK championships in London.

“They have been fundraising through a beetle drive, a non-uniform day, company sponsorships and other events. So far, they have raised over £600. The pupils are a credit to the school and they have set a standard for other young people in a competition which raises awareness of the importance of the engineering sector for school leavers”.

Councillor Stephanie Primrose, Spokesperson for Lifelong Learning, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for the Doon Academy team.

“These events have become the largest school robotics competitions in the world. They are based on their VEX Robotics Design System, a science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) focused platform that allows students to build their own robots whilst at the same time encouraging  key teamwork, leadership, and problem solving skills”.

Innovation First, the organisation behind VEX, hopes to use the competitions to engage students in STEM education by offering an exciting, hands-on learning environment.