Team 2915E members (from left) Oliver Mun, Harry Baker, Sohail Asyaban, Markus Maertzchink, Rio Carron, Daisy Chen. Back row: Lynfield College technology teachers Doug Bryant and Craig Yearbury.
In an age where robotics is taking over manufacturing – and, soon, large swathes of our everyday lives – a team from a West Auckland high school could be the best at building a robot in the world.
But as things stand, they’ll never know.
In February, Lynfield College’s “Team 2915E” beat 70 teams from around New Zealand to win the VEX National Championships – the second year the school had won the title, and with it the right to represent New Zealand at the 2025 VEX Robotics World Championship in Texas, May 6 to 8 – where teams will take on each others’ robots in head-to-head matches that require both speed and dexterity.
The problem is that a number of the sponsors who paid their way to the US last year – including AUT, a DIY retailer and a construction firm – have not returned to back the 2025 effort, citing a lack of available funds.
