The TASIS Tigers Middle School Robotics team, led by Coach Amy Bloodworth, achieved a significant victory at the 2026 VEX IQ Robotics Qualifying Tournament in Basel. The team, consisting of Ruhaan Patel ’31, Luke Vinciguerra ’31, Andrea Crisofulli ’31, Mark Mykhalchuk ’32, and Marat Syhyda ’32, ranked first overall and secured the Robot Skills Champion Award. This outstanding performance has qualified the team for the prestigious VEX Robotics World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, scheduled for late April. The World Championship is a global event that brings together top teams from various VEX competition levels to compete for the title of world champion. This achievement underscores the consistent excellence of the robotics program at TASIS, which has a strong track record of representing Switzerland on the international stage, including at the 2025 World Championship in Houston. The success of the 1828A team highlights the school's commitment to fostering technical skills, teamwork, and competitive excellence from the middle school level.
The High School Robotics Program at TASIS also demonstrated remarkable performance at the concurrent VEX V5 Robotics Qualifying Tournament in Basel. Two teams, 36817B Cranky Clankers and 36817C Turbo Tacos, each advanced to the quarterfinals after being selected for competitive alliances. The Cranky Clankers, comprising Taha Taassob ’27, Mingcheng Zhang ’26, Leo Gu ’26, Luigi Zenga ’26, Tsyros Tolliver ’27, Alex Calarasu ’27, and Duru Ipek Guner ’28, finished 12th overall and were honored with the Judges Award. This award recognized their robot's innovative design and an excellent team interview. The Turbo Tacos team, including Matilde Mottola ’29, Emma Khmelnitskaya ’29, Rilla Zheng ’27, Coresta Schmidt ’27, Lavin Cetinkaya ’27, Roman Bukharin ’28, Vittorio Severgini ’29, and Patrick Mauldin ’29, placed 14th overall and ranked seventh in the Robot Skills category. Additionally, TASIS students Madalena Costa Felix ’26, Ishaan Patel ’29, and Alexandra Spoto ’27 contributed to local teams that won the Robot Game Champions and Robot Skills Champions awards. Headmaster Christopher Nikoloff commended all participants for their hard work and application of knowledge to real-world problem-solving, a hallmark of the school's educational philosophy.
