Haoyuan Gu, Year 10, and Nathaniel Ou, Year 12, placed Fourth in the recent Vex Games World Championships!

Congratulations to Haoyuan Gu and Nathaniel Ou, who along with their teammate from Whitby Collegiate, achieved an outstanding result at the recent Vex Games World Championships in St Louis, Missouri.

Earlier this year, Haoyuan and Nathaniel became the first ever Wellington team to win the New Zealand title and earn the right to compete for the world title.

The final was a tough competition against a very skilled teams and the boys performed incredibly well with a final placing of 4th from the 400 teams that competed, an outstanding result!

Nathaniel left and Haoyuan middle, deep in finals competition mode.

The Vex Robotics World Championship was a very special once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, and I am so grateful to all the people who put in their time and effort into running the entire program around the world. I met so many amazing people my age who had the same interests in STEM and becoming engineers, and formed so many new relationships with people from all over the world. Doing robotics also challenged my teamwork, communication, and ability to work under pressure, all of which are valuable skills for the future. Overall, participating in the Vex World Championship was one of the best moments of my life, and the memories created will stay with me forever. Thank you Wellington College for all your support.

– Haoyuan Gu, Year 10.

It wasn’t until I was sitting inside the massive stadium surrounded by thousands of other competitors that I realised just how big this event actually was. Walking out with the New Zealand flag during the parade of nations was something I’ll never forget. We did our best, and even though a few small mistakes cost us, finishing 4th in the world is something I’m incredibly proud of and an experience that I’ll never forget.

– Nathaniel Ou, Year 12.

Join the WC Vex Robotics Club!

Nathaniel and Haoyuan are creating a club for anyone who loves Robotics. Contact them at – Nathaniel 23357@wc.school.nz and Haoyuan 25566@wc.school.nz