Aggie Robotics earns historic honors on global stage
A Texas A&M student organization garnered top awards from two major robotic competitions while strengthening their expertise across disciplines.
Aggie Robotics team members celebrate with high fives during the VEX Robotics World Championship, capturing the teamwork and energy behind their competition experience.
Aggie Robotics represented Texas A&M University on the global stage this spring, earning the organization’s highest honor to date at the VEX University World Championship before continuing its success at the Buc Days VEX University Competition.
The World Championship brought together 120 collegiate robotics teams from around the world to the America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis from April 14-28. Aggie Robotics sent 39 students and one staff member, along with several alumni, to compete with two teams named WHOOP and WHOOP8.
“Competing at worlds means the culmination of everyone’s hard work is finally being brought to life on the biggest stage in VEX,” said David Munoz, an aerospace engineering student and member of WHOOP8’s mechanical team. “It is the best feeling to see something that you designed and built out on the field as a part of a robot.”
Members of Aggie Robotics’ Team WHOOP and Team WHOOP8 pose with their competition robots at the VEX Robotics World Championship, where both teams represented Texas A&M on the global stage.
Team WHOOP
Team WHOOP finished with an 8-2 record and ranked eighth in the world. The team also earned the Design Award, the highest honor Aggie Robotics has ever received at the world championship.
The award recognizes excellence in the engineering design process, project and time management and team organization. For Mark Khoury, a mechanical engineering student and member of WHOOP, the recognition reflected the effort that went into documenting and communicating the team’s engineering process throughout the season.
“The award meant that the late-night editing and the overall determination to produce a high-quality notebook worked amazingly,” Khoury said. “It showed that Aggie Robotics works hard in everything we do.”
Preparation for worlds required them to adjust quickly after earlier competitions, improve designs and study other teams.
Team WHOOP8
WHOOP8 also earned recognition at the competition, receiving the A3 Safety Award. Members of the team said the experience gave them the opportunity to compete at a high level while applying technical skills in a fast-paced environment.
“Our team prepared for competition against the top collegiate robotics programs in the world through sheer time and effort,” said Isaac Kalina, a Texas A&M Engineering and Blinn College student and member of WHOOP8. “We all spent countless hours and nights in the workshop, preparing and trying to maximize our designs and concepts to succeed.”
Abhilash Sunkara, a computer engineering student and member of WHOOP8’s software team, said the scale of the world competition stood out to him during his first year competing at that level.
“I was able to meet and talk to teams from all over the world, and it was nice to see that VEX has this kind of global reach,” Sunkara said.
Hands-on engineering experience
Beyond the competition field, Aggie Robotics gives students the opportunity to build technical and professional skills outside the classroom. Members worked across mechanical, software and strategy-focused roles.
“Aggie Robotics has allowed me to learn new skills as well as hone them in a very competitive and technical environment that I can take with me into my future career,” Munoz said. “It has also given me invaluable experience working with a team and a multitude of engineers on a multidisciplinary project where compromising and communication are keys to success.”
Aggie Robotics’ Team WHOOP competition robots showcase Texas A&M Engineering in action at the VEX Robotics World Championship.
Kalina said the organization helped him find a strong community at Texas A&M.
“This season was very memorable because it was my first in Aggie Robotics, but I felt like I just fit in with the organization the moment I showed up to the first meeting,” Kalina said. “People were incredibly welcoming, and I’ve felt that I’ve made some incredible friends and found my people here at Texas A&M.”
Beyond worlds
Aggie Robotics continued its success the following week at the BUC Days VEX University Competition in Corpus Christi. Eleven students represented the organization, with WHOOP finishing qualifications with a record of 6-1 before winning the tournament. WHOOP8 finished qualifications with a 4-3 record and earned the Strength of Schedule Award. Together, the teams earned $3,500 in cash prizes for Aggie Robotics.
Before the competition, four students toured Caterpillar’s Victoria production plant, one of the largest assembly plants in the nation, where they gained insight into large-scale manufacturing and real-world engineering applications.
Khoury said the experience was memorable not only because of the win, but because of how the team represented Texas A&M throughout the competition.
“This moment stuck out to me because it showed the standard that Aggie Robotics and Texas A&M have for students,” Khoury said. “Win, lose or tie, keep it classy.”
Through competition, collaboration and hands-on design, members of the organization strive to demonstrate the technical skill, dedication and character of Texas A&M engineers.
