Kiwibots exist to provide opportunities that grow the capability of New Zealand's future innovators and creative thinkers. We future-proof Kiwi kids - find out more about how we do it in NZ Education, STEM Education resources and robotics. The Kiwibots Story In 2008, a team of enthusiastic Kiwi educators, business reps and students could see that science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) was soon to be the forefront of education. This group scoped out what was happening in the world, travelled to see the VEX programme in action, and saw the potential of sharing it with Aotearoa – inspiring young Kiwis one robot at a time. The NZ Robotics Charitable Trust was founded in 2009 with the support of businesses that could see the future growth of the tech industry and the imminent global need for more innovators, problem solvers, and creative thinkers. NZ teams competed in their first season of VEX Robotics in the 2009-2010 season. In true Kiwi fashion, the students showed innovation and a 'No. 8 wire' approach to problem solving that resulted in a World Championship title, knocking reigning champions out of the top spot! Since then, Kiwibots has grown, creating and supporting teams from intermediate through university to world calibre levels that put NZ on the map in the robotics and tech industry. Kiwibots teams have won World Championship titles 15 times against 70+ competing countries. They have also won awards such as the Excellence Award, Sportsmanship Award, Judge's Award, and many more. As a charitable organisation, our shared successes would not be possible without the support of our generous funders over the years. Thanks to them, whānau, kaiako and volunteers, the future of robotics excellence and STEAM advancement will be filled with innovative Kiwis. See all awards About: Who we are The Kiwibots Difference Unlike other software and coding based education, we encourage students to create physical results using robotics. The gamification of learning tasks creates a more engaging experience, while also fostering collaboration , communication , and creativity . Our programme alumni find themselves in careers with top technology firms across the world due to skills gained with Kiwibots robotics. Meet the Team Michelle Hazeleger-Mollard (she/her) National Operations Manager Michelle leads the Kiwibots programme nationwide, working with Event Partners, educators, and all of our Kiwibots whānau. Responsible to the Board of Trustees, Michelle has a background in teaching and a Masters in Educational Leadership. She covers the main business aspects of Kiwibots. Doug Bryan (he/him) Event Partner – Tāmaki Makaurau Doug is a technology teacher and comes from a background of automotive and hard materials technologies. He has been with Kiwibots since the first years, starting the teams at Onehunga High School (SymbiOHsis) who have represented NZ and won at the VEX World Championships. Stephan van Haren (he/him) Event Partner – Manawatū Since 2014, Stephan has organised the VEX IQ National Championships for Kiwibots. Stephan has also set up the Central Region Robotics Trust to support new schools/teams that want to try robotics across the central North Island. Stephan is based in the Manawatu, teaching at St. Peter's College and won the Inspiration All-Star award in 2019. Haley Taylor Event Partner – Waitaha Canterbury Haley is the Technology Team Leader at Breens Intermediate Ōtautahi, and is kaiako of Digital Technologies. She leads the eSports, robotics and coding teams within the Kura and across the Waimairi-iri Kāhui Ako. Haley is particularly passionate about engaging girls in tech. She has led a number of tamariki to success within the robotics field nationally. Haley also has a background in music with a diploma in performance trumpet. Issy Riddell-Garner (she/her) Regional Coordinator – Te Whanganui-a-Tara Based in Wellington, Issy has been through the Kiwibots programme herself after stumbling upon it while at Wellington Girls' High School. She's joined us as a Regional Coordinator to continue creating events for our Kiwi kids and has been one of our longest student turned alumni volunteers! David Aston (he/him) Event Partner – Tāmaki Makaurau David is based in Auckland and is one of our longest serving Kiwibots ambassadors, creating teams and introducing VEX to his school when Kiwibots started in 2009. Winner of Inspiration All-Star 2016, David juggles supporting many VRC teams across Auckland as well as the pick, pack and despatch of goods for teams nationwide. Toni de Rijk (she/her) Event Partner – Bay of Plenty Toni and her husband, Paul, help support all the events and teams from the Bay of Plenty. Toni's been with Kiwibots for a number of years. As well as all the engagement from her region, she has also had her own children go through the programme. She has won Volunteer of the Year a number of times to recognise her passion and work in the community. Ben Ellery (he/him) Event Partner – Manawatū Ben is based in Palmerston North and is the Chairperson of Central Robotics Trust, running this with Stephan van Haren. Ben has been through the Kiwibots programme as a student before joining as part of the core team, with a particular interest in the technical side of our events. Andy Kerrison (he/him) Event Partner – Waitaha Canterbury Andy has been a key volunteer with Kiwibots for a number of years working alongside Katana. He is currently at St. Andrew's College. Prior to his extensive career in teaching, Andy comes from an engineering background and brings these skills to his work, sharing invaluable insights for students and colleagues. John Ovens (he/him) Event Partner – Ōtākou John has been involved in the Kiwibots program since 2014, competing in 2015 with Long Bay College and then in 2017 with world champions AURA. Now working as a mechatronics engineer in Dunedin, John is keen to get more competitive robotics going down in the Otago region. Contact us if you’re keen to be a part of our robotics down south! Craig Yearbury (he/him) Event Partner – Tāmaki Makaurau Craig teaches at Lynfield College and has been part of the Kiwibots programme since it started in NZ. He has coached many teams across Auckland, and successfully brought teams to the World Championships to claim titles for NZ too. Jana Robertson (she/her) Regional Coordinator – Taranaki Jana is an experienced Kaiako at Spotswood College, in Taranaki. She holds several positions, including Technology Programme Leader | Pouārahi Hangarau, Digital Technology Kaiako | Pouāko Hangarau Matihiko, ICT Manager | Pouārahi Hangarau Whakaaturanga 11JRBpa Learning Advisory | Pouāwhina. Jana brings a wealth of experience and passion to robotics. B randon Montagnani (he/him) Event Partner – Manawatū Brandon is based in Palmerston North and first started as a student at PNBHS in 2011. He has continued to help as a volunteer at scrimmages and other events ever since. Brandon is a Mechatronics engineer and Massey University alumni, based in the Manawatu region, with a huge passion for Science and Technology. Andy Thawley (he/him) Event Partner – Waitaha Canterbury Andy is the Head of Digital Technology at Christchurch Boys’ High School and is involved with Kiwibots, eSports and laptop refurbishment. Prior to returning to Christchurch, Andy taught in Auckland and the UK. He is passionate about getting as many people involved in technology and innovation as possible. When possible he loves to travel but is settling for doing this virtually at the moment. Hutana Maxwell (he/him) Event Partner – Murihiku Southland Te Awara, Tuhoe and Ngati Whare; “me kii nga hau e wha". Hutana has a background in Te Ao Māori and Education and is currently kaiako at Wakatipu High School. Hutana is passionate about Hangarau Matihiko (digital technology) and Karetao (robotics). Hutana aims to enhance the Māori holistic view of health and wellbeing in Aotearoa. Board of Trustees Mike Hearn Executive Director AmCham Steve Watkinson Project Manager, Kaiarahi Projects Te Herenga Mātai Pūkaha The University of Auckland Kate Thompson Development Manager, Science Te Herenga Mātai Pūkaha The University of Auckland Ant Self Group Chief Financial Officer Netlogix New Zealand Kelly Moodie Women in Engineering Advisor Faculty of Engineering Te Herenga Mātai Pūkaha The University of Auckland Jana Robertson Kaiako Representative for Kiwibots Board Greg Smale Director Smales Farm Lizzie Quill Fundraising Manager SPCA

Community As a charitable trust, all of our work relies on the support of sponsors, regional partners, and volunteers nationwide that provide time, energy, funds and skills to bring Kiwibots events to young New Zealanders. Funding Partners We are so grateful to our funding partners whose support make our projects are reality for so many young New Zealanders. These companies share our mission of providing opportunities to grow tech literacy and broaden the skillsets of the next generations – future-proofing Kiwi kids and New Zealand as a whole. If you're interested in becoming a sponsor, donating or seeing how else you can help, please send an email to our National Manager, Michelle Mollard, at michellem@kiwibots.co.nz to see how you can get involved. Every little bit counts and makes a world of difference to our work. Funds contribute to our major events, support for local events, products and materials for teams from the far north to the deep south, ensuring that science and tech can remain accessible for everybody. Partner Organisations Central Region Robotics Trust works with Kiwibots to produce the VEX IQ Challenge National Championships, as well as grow all robotics STEAM education and engagement across the Central North Island. STEAM-ED's mission is to equip students with the skill and mindset needed to thrive in tomorrow's rapidly evolving world, through the delivery of high-quality STEAM programmes. Approximately 70% of STEAM-ED's programmes in the Western Bay of Plenty use Kiwibots provided VEX robotics equipment. Kidwe lab works in STEAM education, that offers creative lessons for kids from 6-16. We take a student-centered approach to teaching and learning and our focus is on discovery learning. We guide the learners through the concept rather than tell them how to do it. This means that they learn how to look for solutions to problems on their own and learn from their own experiences. RoboPā is a makerspace that provides opportunity for Māori youth to access technology and STEAM equipment, particularly in rural regions of New Zealand. We work with the following organisations to further our outreach of STEAM engagement. We work with a number of groups who all share the same mission (and have plenty of fun while at it!)

Kiwibots exist to provide opportunities that grow the capability of New Zealand's future innovators and creative thinkers. Find out more about how we future-proof Kiwi kids with robotics. Kiwibots inspires and empowers the next generation of innovators and creative thinkers. Our programmes provide rangatahi (youth) with opportunities to develop communication, collaboration, and creativity: skills that future-proof Kiwi kids. We are a charitable organisation that proudly facilitates Aotearoa New Zealand's only large scale robotics education + competition programme covering all levels of schooling from primary through tertiary. Kiwibots at a Glance Kiwibots helps students to learn science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) in a fun and engaging way. We achieve this through various robotics tools, primarily VEX Robotics; a global leader in robotics education. Early engagement with STEAM education ensures that young Kiwis are equipped for a future in the tech industry. Our unique Kiwi ‘Number 8 wire' methods of design & problem-solving play a key role. Rangatahi that go through our programmes gain invaluable experience in: Creative problem solving Teamwork (especially under pressure!) Engineering design Working with complex electronics Hands-on building and material work Coding and IT Skills Cross-cultural relationship building Accolades Kiwibots are World Champions with VEX Excellence (Team JANK) and Design (Team WINGU5) Awards at university level. We've worked with 10,000+ NZ tauira (students) aged 8 and up through VEX competitions, and even more with our education programmes. More than 2000 young Kiwis have represented Aotearoa at the VEX World Championships, and our teams have won awards at international level 15 times. See All Awards How Does it Work? Kiwibots manages three levels of competitions, aimed at different school ages: VEX IQ – Up to age 15 VEX V5RC (VEX Robotics Challenge) – Up to age 18 VEX U (University) Teams can comprise school groups or independents. With the support of a coach, the students do all the design, building, programming and operating themselves. Each year, in line with the Northern Hemisphere school calendar, VEX releases a new design challenge for students across the world to solve by designing and building innovative robotic solutions. Get Involved VEX 123 Kindergarten – Year 3 VEX Go Primary School VEX IQ Primary – Intermediate (Elementary – Middle School) VEX V5 Intermediate – Secondary (Middle – High School) VEX U University (College) "Achieving success with the smallest things on a robot started me down a path of becoming interested in all things mechanical." - Vincent, Auckland VEX V5RC alumni Contact Kiwibots Fill out the form to learn more about our mahi & how you can get involved – we'll be in touch as soon as possible. If you have a pressing matter, reach out to our National Operations Manager directly: Michelle Hazeleger-Mollard contact@kiwibots.co.nz +64 21 298 9492 I want to subscribe to the newsletter. Submit Tēnā koe! Thank you!

The Board of the New Zealand Robotics Charitable Trust, (Kiwibots), is delighted to advise of the appointment of Michelle Hazeleger-Mollard as our new National Operations Manager, 10th December 2021. Michelle is an educator with a Masters in Educational Leadership, based in Palmerston North. She joins us after her role as a teacher and International Student Academic Manager at St. Peter’s College since 2014. Michelle may be a familiar face to some, having been involved with Kiwibots programmes as a parent and event volunteer for 7+ years. She has also worked all over the world, including Thailand and Japan, as well as time spent living in India working as Deputy Principal at an international school, in Delhi. The Board is extremely excited to be welcoming Michelle into this role as Kiwibots continues to grow. With Nationals fast approaching and previous National Manager, Janet Van Jenkins, now based overseas and supporting from afar, we will do our best to keep things running smoothly for the community in this handover. We would like to thank our incredible Regional Coordinators, volunteers, schools and students for their commitment and support through this period of change. We will be arranging for Michelle to meet with the volunteers, communities and schools throughout the country at the earliest opportunity. We would also like to thank Fisher & Paykel Healthcare for their support with the recruitment process these last months. We look forward to working with you to continue expanding Kiwibots programme across Aotearoa to future-proof Kiwi kids. Mike Hearn Chair New Zealand Robotics Charitable Trust (Kiwibots)

Over the last year and a half, we have had the privilege of running in person and online events for the community as we change between Alert Levels on this pandemic rollercoaster. A huge thanks to all of our community for being so understanding and adapting to the systems we've been putting in place to help prioritise everyone's safety. The new habit of RSVPing and checking in on arrival has helped immensely in the last few lockdowns, allowing us to work directly with MOH to quickly contact trace and communicate with attendees. With the restrictions changing for the current Delta variant, we've updated our protocols to reflect the extra measures we will be implementing to ensure event safety for the Kiwibots community. Please read the information below carefully. Capacity and Registration With indoor events being limited to 50 participants and spectators, RSVP-ing individual attendance via www.kiwibots.co.nz/upcoming-events prior to the event will be mandatory. Entry may be denied to unregistered individuals who walk-in on the day. A volunteer will be at the venue entry point to assist with this checking in too. Many regions may now also host multiple events on a single day by splitting IQ and VRC - so please check our events page carefully so that you register for the correct scrimmage. Read the event details - some events may limit how many teams from an organisation, or how many ākonga/students per team, may attend. If you incorrectly register for an event, please let us know at contact@kiwibots.co.nz or email your Regional Coordinator so we can remove you from the incorrect event and free up a space. Checking in on our system is compulsory and additional to the government issued QR COVID-19 scanning system. This is because we recognise many students may not have their own personal devices and are legally required to keep our own records. Venues Once again, please make sure you read the information on the Kiwibots Events page carefully, as regions may host multiple scrimmages at different venues, different rooms within a venue (e.g. Gym and the Hall), or at different times. As many venues do not allow for events at Level 2, please be prepared that venues may change to those that can host events and visitors at Level 2. If you have already registered to an event and the venue changes, our team will endeavour to let you know with plenty of warning. Venues will have a single entry point to help manage sign-ins and ensure we stay within capacity limits. Event Hygiene and Safety Things are going to look a bit different at Delta 2. Some things stay the same though - do not attend an event if you are showing any cold or flu-like symptoms, get tested and let us know you will not be attending so we can remove you from the RSVP list. Remember to regularly wash your hands, avoid touching your face and sneeze or cough into your elbow. Volunteers Kiwibots event volunteers (Regional Coordinators and any additional volunteers critical to event support, referees, Tournament Manager tech, etc.) will be wearing Kiwibots teal shirts and face masks for all events at Delta 2. Volunteers for events will be staying in a volunteer capacity for the event, and should not be a general supporter that between matches offers to help reset the field and 'change roles'. This is due to event volunteers not coming within the 50 person capacity. If you would like to offer to volunteer for an event, please contact your Regional Coordinator prior to the event. Mask Wearing Mask-wearing is not compulsory at Delta 2 for our attendees (non-volunteers), however in line with the Ministry of Health guidelines, we do strongly recommend them for individuals aged 12 and over given the number of teams from across the region in attendance, and possible difficulties with physical distancing in some venues. Cleaning There will be hand sanitisers available at entry to the venue and at the match fields. Please feel free to bring your own hand sanitiser as well. Shared surfaces such as trestle tables, high-touch areas and Kiwibots devices etc. will undergo a pre- and post- event sanitisation. Please be prepared to assist with this as Regional Coordinators may ask each team to help with wiping down their team's trestle table/workspace at the beginning and end of each event. Teams may wipe down their tables more frequently throughout the event if they wish, simply ask the Regional Coordinator for the sanitising spray. If you have any questions about the updated Delta 2 protocols for events, please feel free to get in touch with us directly at contact@kiwibots.co.nz. Events will not take place at Level 3 or higher, and we are reviewing how new Alert Levels impact our major events, so please do stay tuned as we work through these difficult times. We can't wait to safely put events back on for our Kiwibots kids, and thank you all for being so understanding as we find ways to navigate how to get events back for you all. Kia kaha Aotearoa!

With NZ's tech success story, Rocket Lab, going public yesterday - it's a timely reminder to look at all the incredible successes our students achieve every year on the global stage at the VEX World Championships. Kiwibots kids are absolutely following in the footsteps of changemakers like Peter Beck, and we can't wait for the future with these kids at the helm. With support from The Royal Society, our students competed in the live virtual championships of May this year and snagged a number of top awards for Aotearoa. We are so proud of them as we won an award at every grade too! Ka pai koutou! 👏 It's worth noting in this too that we were lucky enough to run a primarily in-person season for 2020-21, and as such the students had robots designed for the in-person rules. In some ways, our students were disadvantaged heading into the worlds against teams who had spend the last 6-10 months preparing for online challenges with designs specific to those rules, so we are especially proud of how well our tamariki adapted and rose to the challenge. Throw into the mix some very early morning starts for our young'uns as they do their interviews at 6am NZST to meet with judges in the USA. Thanks to all the teachers and parents who supported them through a pretty exhausting week! A massive congratulations to all our teams that represented NZ on the world stage in Live Remote Tournaments and Live Remote Skills - Lynfield College, Rubixcoders, Skywalker Robotics, House of Science Tauranga, NakiBots, TopCat, Palmerston North Intermediate Normal School, and College Street Normal School. 🏆 House of Science Tauranga 8757A - Engineering subdivision champions and Innovate Award winners 🏆 Skywalker Robotics 3168S - Create Award winners 🏆 College Street Normal School 2223E Phoenix - Innovate Award winners 🏆 AURA - VEX Innovators Award 🏆 Craig Yearbury - Inspiration All-Star Award and VEX Hall of Fame