Kettering University’s VEX-U robotics team, KUdos, concluded its regular competition schedule with its strongest all-around performance of the season, earning the Excellence Award at the California Baptist University Open on January 31 in Riverside, California.
The result caps a season that has seen the team progress from an early Worlds qualification to consistent high finishes across multiple events, culminating in recognition for overall program performance rather than a single competitive category.
A Complete Event Performance
Competing against 13 collegiate teams from universities and community colleges across California and Nevada, KUdos placed near the top of the standings throughout the event.
The team gained the following awards and achievements:
Excellence Award
Finalists in elimination rounds
2nd place in combined Autonomous and Driver Skills
3rd in qualification rankings (6-0-1 record)
The Excellence Award, the highest-level honor presented at VEX-U events, recognizes performance across judging, documentation, teamwork, and on-field competition, requiring teams to rank near the top of qualification matches and skills challenges while demonstrating a complete engineering process.
Unlike performance-only awards, the honor evaluates how well a team plans, communicates, iterates, and executes across an entire competition cycle.
From Early Qualification to Consistency
Earlier this season, KUdos qualified for the VEX-U World Championship and earned a Design Award recognizing its engineering process and documentation. Subsequent events tested whether the team could translate preparation into repeatable results.
The California Baptist University Open marked the first time this season the team combined judged recognition with a deep elimination run and top-tier skills performance at the same event.
The progression reflects a shift from building a competitive robot to operating a fully coordinated program, managing match strategy, technical iteration, and communication under tournament conditions.
Team Members
Nathan Nguyen ‘26, B-Section Team Captain, Lead Designer & Fabricator, 24" Drive Coach, Pit Crew
Andrew Bolthouse ‘27, A-Section Team Captain, 15" Drive Coach, Technician
With its regular season complete, KUdos now shifts its focus to the VEX-U World Championship, where collegiate teams from around the world compete across autonomous programming, driver control, engineering interviews, and full tournament play.
Rather than entering Worlds as a newly qualified team, KUdos arrives after a schedule designed to expose the robot and team to different competitive styles, judging expectations, and match environments.
The Excellence Award performance serves as the final benchmark before international competition, demonstrating readiness across both technical execution and team operations.
The team now advances to the VEX-U World Championship following its most complete performance of the season.
