Confey College success at VEX Robotics World Championship 2026

By Mary Selkirk
Confey College Leixlip is proud to celebrate the outstanding achievement of its VEX Robotics team, The Imagineers, who represented Ireland at the VEX Robotics World Championship 2026 in St. Louis, USA. Team Imagineers consisted of Amal Rajesh, Chidubem (Dubby) Uzoukwu, Katie Evers, Sahas Sawant and Samiksha Muthukumaar. Mentored by past pupils- Anna Mei Chan Kinsella, Joel Rajesh and Ugochukwu Uzoukwu, the Imagineers and their mentors travelled to St Louis, Missouri on 18 April via Dallas, Texas for a week long robotic battle at the world championship. Using a Folding Ruiguan style robot, the team engineered a robot that competed in a series of mini games and challenges against other opponents.
VEX Robotics World Championship 2026
The VEX Robotics World Championship is widely regarded as the largest robotics competition in the world, bringing together top teams from across the globe to compete at the highest level of STEM excellence.
In the VEX V5 Robotics Competition, students designed, built and programmed their own robots, before competing in fast-paced matches that tested their game strategy, teamwork, and engineering and driving skills. Teams are also evaluated on innovation, documentation of work, and collaboration
In 2026, over 2,000 teams from around the world including over 800 teams in the V5 high school category took part in the event, making it an exceptionally competitive global stage.
The Imagineers entered the world championship following a clean sweep at national level, where they remained unbeaten and were crowned joint champions at the Irish National Final and secured the Robot Skills Irish National title.
On the world stage, they continued to impress, winning the prestigious Judges Award in their division, finishing as the highest ranked Irish team in the V5 competition and standing out as one of the very few European teams to receive a Judges Award in St Louis. The Judges Award is a prestigious recognition presented by competition judges to a team that stands out for special merit. Judges consider the team's engineering notebook (documentation of their design process), their interview and communication skills, teamwork, problem-solving, perseverance, and overall spirit and conduct throughout the competition.
Unlike performance-based rankings, this award recognises the complete journey of a team—highlighting creativity, resilience, and excellence in engineering thinking. At a World Championship level, where only top teams qualify, receiving a Judges Award is a significant international honour. Each division at the World Championship typically features between 80 and 100 elite teams, making the level of competition exceptionally high. This is a major accomplishment, placing the team among the standout teams globally and marking a proud moment for Confey College and Irish STEM education.
Team Imagineers' success is a testament not only to their own dedication but also to the support of their school and local community. Their achievement is expected to inspire younger students in Leixlip and beyond to engage with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. The team express their gratitude to their school, their fellow schoolmates, the KWETB and to all of their sponsors including Intel, AMD, MGS, MIDAS, SUSQUEHANNA and ETHOS and to all who donated to make their journey possible, including Croi Laighean Credit Union, Celtic Tiles and Leixlip Amenities.
Confey College has been involved in Robotics and STEM since 2016 when the school took part in the European Space Agency's CANSAT competition. The school won the CANSAT National final and came third in the European final in Portugal. This success was repeated in 2025 when Confey students again won the National CANSAT final and represented Ireland, presenting their project at the European Space Agency's headquarters in Leiden.
On the heels of their CANSAT success in 2016, Confey students were invited to represent Ireland in the FIRST Global W...