Arkansas Tech University finished runner-up in the 2026 VEX U Robotics World Championship at the America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, Mo., April 25-27.
The No. 2 in the world finish is the latest milestone in the rapid rise of ATU robotics. The team made its first appearance in the VEX U World Championship in 2023, and behind the ingenuity of a quintet of seniors, ATU robotics has now established itself as one of the premier programs on Earth.
By placing top-2 at the 2026 world competition, Arkansas Tech finished in front of teams from institutions such as Arizona State University, Purdue University, Rutgers University, Texas A&M University, the University of Florida, the University of Louisville, the University of Michigan, the University of Minnesota, the University of Nebraska, the University of South Carolina and West Virginia University.
The ATU team also bested competitors from Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom to come away with Arkansas Tech’s best-ever finish in the VEX U Robotics World Championship. In all, more than 120 colleges and universities qualified to compete in St. Louis.
Arkansas Tech also claimed the 2026 VEX U Think Award, which is presented to the team at the world championships that demonstrates the best and most consistent programming of all robots.
The 2026 world runner-up finish was led by seniors Brady Bray of Greenwood, Jason Easterling of Hope, Brandon Gallegos of Hope, Juan Leon of Hope, Hunter Mathis of Hope and Ryan Nanthalangsy of Sheridan.
This year’s team also included juniors Preston Diehl of Conway, Bo Huey of Conway and Everett Otis of Conway; sophomores Kavin Kannangara of Bentonville, Judit Morales-Mora of Russellville, Brody Peterson of Bentonville and Cooper Stober of Bentonville; and freshmen Layke Bennett of Cabot, Gavin Copeland of Cabot, Mckenzie Morris of Booneville, Jhon Perez of Centerton and Lukas Spain of Alma.
Jacob Weidenfeller, ATU senior instructor of electrical engineering, and Steve Ward, ATU instructor of computer and information science, coach and advise the team.
Arkansas Tech founded its VEX U Robotics program at the beginning of the fall 2019 semester by identifying team members, many of whom came from ATU’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) registered student organization.
At the end of that semester, ATU robotics won the overall excellence award at a qualifying tournament in Little Rock. ATU’s team earned the right to compete in the 2020 VEX U Robotics World Championship, but that event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Three years later, the program was back to full strength and ready to make its debut at the world championship.
ATU made it to the quarterfinal round of its division at the 2023 VEX U Robotics World Championship and finished top 16 in the world.
Arkansas Tech advanced through the qualification stage to reach the elimination round at the 2024 VEX U Robotics World Championship and completed the 2023-24 robotics season with a top-4 global skills ranking.
In 2025, ATU finished sixth in the robotics skills competition and advanced to the elimination bracket at the VEX U Robotics World Championship.
Participation with the ATU robotics team is open to Arkansas Tech students of all majors.
For more information about the ATU robotics team, send e-mail to jweidenfeller@atu.edu.
