Nearly 1,000 middle and high school engineering, science and math students from Hawaii, California, Nevada and China put their knowledge to the test for the past three days in competition that pitted robots against robots, and Hawaii kids distinguished themselves.

Throughout the second annual VEX Robotics Pan-Pacific Championship, which started Thursday and wrapped up last night at the Hawaii Convention Center, 132 qualifying matches took place between 86 student teams from 48 schools.

The three-team alliance from Bellarmine College Preparatory took the top honors, finishing as the Pan-Pacific Champions.

The alliance of Honokaa High, McKinley High and Waiakea High earned second place in the championship.

Twenty-four teams, including 18 from Hawaii, competed in the final championship rounds. The eight three-team alliances that competed in the finals were:

1. Highlands Intermediate, McKinley High (Team E), Moanalua High (Team C)
2. Bellarmine College Preparatory (Teams A, B and C) - San Jose, CA
3. Kalaheo High, McKinley High (Team F), Moanalua High (Team A)
4. Honokaa High, McKinley High, Waiakea High
5. Campbell High, Hawaii Baptist Academy, Campbell High (Team B)
6. Nanning Minzhu Primary School (Teams A) - Guangxi, China; Changping Middle School, Guangdong Province, China; High School Attached to Northeast Normal University - Jilin Province, China
7. Kalani High, McKinley High (Team D), Farrington High
8. Waialua High & Intermediate (Team A), Mililani High (Teams A and B)


Four Hawaii schools who competed at the Pan Pacific Championship qualified to advance to the VEX Robotics World Championship that will take place at the Dallas Convention Center and Arena from April 22-24, 2010, including: Honokaa High School, Waiakea High School, McKinley High School, Pearl Highlands Intermediate. At the World Championship, these winning teams will have the opportunity to challenge their top-ranked peers from other countries around the world, including teams from the Asian Robotics League, South America and Europe.

Other award-winning teams include:
McKinley High (Team E) - Robot Skills Champion and Programming Skills Champion
Bellarmine College Preparatory (Team A) - Robot Skills, second place
Lahainaluna High (Team M) - Programming Skills, second place
Nanning Minzhu Primary (Teams A and B) - Judges Award for potential
Hawaii Baptist Academy - Think Award
Iolani School - Energy Award
Lahainaluna High - Judge’s Award
Honokaa High - Judges Award
Kalaheo High - Build Award
KauaiBots - Create Award
Kaiser High and Niu Valley Middle - Sportsmanship Award
Bellarmine College Preparatory - Amaze Award
Pearl Highlands Intermediate - Excellence Award (Middle School)
McKinley High - Excellence Award (High School)