{"id":48297,"date":"2026-08-04T11:51:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=48297"},"modified":"2026-08-04T11:51:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:51:54","slug":"und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/","title":{"rendered":"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America"},"content":{"rendered":"

As host institution, event showcases UND’s College of Engineering & Mines to prospective students<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"UND
At the unofficial kick-off of the VEX Robotics competitive season, an atrium in the Mall of America gets decorated in UND green during the University of North Dakota Signature robotics competition event. Photo by Paige Prekker\/UND College of Engineering & Mines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the third year in a row, UND will host its signature VEX Robotics competition \u2013 an event slated to bring thousands of students and spectators together from across the United States and beyond.<\/p>\n

The event<\/strong><\/a>, the first major U.S. based competition of the 2026-27 VEX season, will take place August 6-8 at the Mall of America\u2019s north atrium and features 119 teams representing 25 U.S. states \u2013 along with teams from Canada, Mexico, China and Taiwan. It is part of VEX\u2019s V5 division, open to students in grades six through 12.<\/p>\n

As the largest student robotics competitions in the world, VEX provides opportunities for over 1.1 million students across 70 countries, ranging in age from pre-kindergarten through university. Participants gain hands-on experience in several STEM fields and strengthen their teamwork and problem-solving skills.<\/p>\n

Andrew Dahlen<\/strong><\/a>, instructor of Mechanical Engineering<\/strong><\/a> at UND, said the event provides both experiential learning opportunities for its participants, while also showcasing UND\u2019s College of Engineering & Mines<\/strong><\/a> to prospective students.<\/p>\n

“Competitive robotics teaches far more than how to build a robot,\u201d Dahlen said. \u201cStudents learn teamwork, communication, creative problem-solving and resilience \u2014 skills that translate directly into engineering and technology careers. Bringing this event to the Mall of America allows UND to connect with talented students and their families while showing them where those skills can take them next.\u201d<\/p>\n

The event offers students the opportunity to compete at a world-class level. Teams will be vying for three competition awards \u2013 the excellence award, skills champion and overall tournament champion \u2013 with awardees earning a spot at the 2027 VEX Robotics World Championships in St. Louis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As host institution, event showcases UND’s College of Engineering & Mines to prospective students<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":43677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19,1125],"class_list":["post-48297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-und","tag-engineering","tag-learning"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America - UND Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As host institution, event showcases UND's College of Engineering & Mines to prospective students\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America - UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As host institution, event showcases UND's College of Engineering & Mines to prospective students\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-04T16:51:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joe Banish\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joe Banish\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Joe Banish\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bc12a86b51128fc0b4004e5891852d4\"},\"headline\":\"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-04T16:51:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":339,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"College of Engineering & Mines\",\"Learning\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Around UND\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/\",\"name\":\"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America - UND Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-04T16:51:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bc12a86b51128fc0b4004e5891852d4\"},\"description\":\"As host institution, event showcases UND's College of Engineering & Mines to prospective students\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2025\\\/08\\\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682,\"caption\":\"At the unofficial kick-off of the VEX Robotics competitive season, an atrium in the Mall of America gets decorated in UND green during the University of North Dakota Signature robotics competition event. Photo by Paige Prekker\\\/UND College of Engineering & Mines.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/\",\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"description\":\"University of North Dakota\u2019s Official News Source\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bc12a86b51128fc0b4004e5891852d4\",\"name\":\"Joe Banish\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f3b6297f08fde500e1f03b85342d2e9faad66c1fc4cab87c1af6937b70a08919?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f3b6297f08fde500e1f03b85342d2e9faad66c1fc4cab87c1af6937b70a08919?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f3b6297f08fde500e1f03b85342d2e9faad66c1fc4cab87c1af6937b70a08919?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joe Banish\"},\"description\":\"is a 2017 graduate of Michigan State University. In 2022, he moved to Grand Forks to cover higher education for the Grand Forks Herald before joining the Division of Marketing & Communications in September 2023 as the strategic communication writer for UND Today.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/author\\\/jbanish\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America - UND Today","description":"As host institution, event showcases UND's College of Engineering & Mines to prospective students","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America - UND Today","og_description":"As host institution, event showcases UND's College of Engineering & Mines to prospective students","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/","og_site_name":"UND Today","article_published_time":"2026-08-04T16:51:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joe Banish","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joe Banish","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/"},"author":{"name":"Joe Banish","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/3bc12a86b51128fc0b4004e5891852d4"},"headline":"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America","datePublished":"2026-08-04T16:51:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/"},"wordCount":339,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg","keywords":["College of Engineering & Mines","Learning"],"articleSection":["Around UND"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/","name":"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America - UND Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg","datePublished":"2026-08-04T16:51:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/3bc12a86b51128fc0b4004e5891852d4"},"description":"As host institution, event showcases UND's College of Engineering & Mines to prospective students","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/08\/250801-Signature-03-web.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"caption":"At the unofficial kick-off of the VEX Robotics competitive season, an atrium in the Mall of America gets decorated in UND green during the University of North Dakota Signature robotics competition event. Photo by Paige Prekker\/UND College of Engineering & Mines."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2026\/08\/und-to-host-vex-robotics-competition-at-mall-of-america\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UND to host VEX Robotics competition at Mall of America"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/","name":"UND Today","description":"University of North Dakota\u2019s Official News Source","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/3bc12a86b51128fc0b4004e5891852d4","name":"Joe Banish","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3b6297f08fde500e1f03b85342d2e9faad66c1fc4cab87c1af6937b70a08919?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3b6297f08fde500e1f03b85342d2e9faad66c1fc4cab87c1af6937b70a08919?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f3b6297f08fde500e1f03b85342d2e9faad66c1fc4cab87c1af6937b70a08919?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joe Banish"},"description":"is a 2017 graduate of Michigan State University. In 2022, he moved to Grand Forks to cover higher education for the Grand Forks Herald before joining the Division of Marketing & Communications in September 2023 as the strategic communication writer for UND Today.","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/author\/jbanish\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48297"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48315,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48297\/revisions\/48315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}