A team from Qatar's Omar bin Al Khattab Scientific School won the BOTBALL championship after edging out eight other schools in an action-packed Middle Eastern regional competition on Saturday. The team of five students, along with their teacher, will head to the United States to compete in the US BOTBALL competition in July. BOTBALL is a US-based organization that introduces robotics to high school students. Teams are equipped with a Lego© Mindstorm robot, along with instructions on how to design and program it to move autonomously through a course to complete a specific task. The goal of the grand prize trip this year is to increase student awareness about robotics, and meet other young men and women in the US who are also interested in the dynamic field. "When the winning team goes to the US, they will bring back an experience that will lift the level of competition for next year. Our hope in the next few years is that teams from this region will be serious competitors in robotics world championships" said Brett Browning, Senior Systems Scientist at Carnegie Mellon University A team demonstrating its robot on the playfield during the BOTBALL championship. Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar brought BOTBALL to Doha in 2005. "Carnegie Mellon is really excited that the competition has grown so much, and each year the capabilities of the teams are increasing. Introducing kids to robotics and computer science through BOTBALL is Carnegie Mellon's contribution in the Gulf Region," said Browning. "Seeing the excitement of the students and the energy of the competitions is what keeps us excited about educational robotics." Participating schools who qualified in the 2008 Regional BOTBALL competition were: Omar bin Al Khattab Scientific School, Doha College, Al Bayan School for Girls, Al RU'YA Bilingual School, British School of Kuwait, Al Mawakeb School-Garhoud, Al Mawakeb School- Emirates Al Barsha, American School of Alexandria and Canadian International School - Egypt. Source: http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&month=May2008&file=Local_News2008052821348.xml

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