One of the world’s largest robotics competitions for young people will be hosted for the first time in Qatar in November.

The 2015 World Robot Olympiad (WRO) was launched with a practice competition for students yesterday, by Maersk Oil Qatar and College of the North Atlantic Qatar (CNA-Q), in partnership with the Supreme Education Council (SEC).

Under the theme ‘Robot Explorers’, WRO, from November 6 to 8, will bring together 3,000 participants from 55 countries at Al Shaqab Indoor Arena and feature challenges that reflect local cultural influences, including one for primary school level which is called ‘Pearl Diving’.

WRO is an annual contest to develop skills and enthusiasm students have in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by bringing together teams of young people from all over the world and challenging them to use creativity and problem-solving skills to build robots capable of completing a range of challenges.

Fawziya Al Khater, Director, Education Institute, SEC, said, “We would like to officially announce that Qatar will host WRO 2015 which is a testament to the progress achieved by the state in supporting development of STEM skills.

“The SEC is committed to developing such skills given their crucial importance in helping Qatar achieve its ambitions, and we welcome cooperation with partners from the private sector. We would like to thank Maersk Oil Qatar for supporting WRO and sharing our vision and aspiration for educating our young people, and for the business’ commitment to the success of Qatar in the long term,” she added.

Dr Theodore Chiasson, Dean, Information Technology, CNA-Q; Lewis Affleck, Managing Director, Maersk Oil Qatar; and Dr Ken MacLeod, President, CNA-Q, were present.

Ahead of WRO, Qatar National Robot Olympiad finals will be held from October 30 to 31, with the participation of about 1,200 students from elementary, middle and senior schools to qualify to represent Qatar at WRO.

About 34 teams of students are expected to represent Qatar at the world event.

Preparations for both events are under way, with 600 teachers from schools having attended over 250 training sessions organised and run by CNA-Q throughout the year.

Participating teachers benefited from up to 30 hours of classroom training, gaining skills and experience in making the best use of robotics equipment in classroom settings. This enables them to support student teams as they prepare for Qatar National Robot Olympiad finals – and potentially WRO – and inspire them for robotics and mathematical engineering on a longer-term basis. (Source)

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