DOHA: A team of students from the American School of Doha (ASD) are set to represent the Middle East in the 2015 Global Conference on Educational Robotics in the USA in July, after having recently won the 11th annual Botball Educational Robotics Programme hosted by Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.
Around 200 high school students from across Qatar went head-to-head in Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s popular ‘Botball’ competition for the chance to represent the region in New Mexico, USA, this summer. The Botball Educational Robotics Programme is an internationally renowned learning experience that is designed to engage high school students in the practical applications of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
This year’s competition saw students assemble and programme autonomous robots using starter kits provided by Carnegie Mellon Qatar at an introductory workshop held in January. The teams then competed by manoeuvring their robots through an obstacle course that simulated a geological survey.
“Many students don’t think robotics is something they would be interested in, but after participating in Botball they change their minds and realise it’s something they want to pursue,” said Osama Hyder, a member of the winning team. “Carnegie Mellon Qatar was also generous enough to provide the ASD Robotics Club with kits and host a participant workshop ahead of Botball, which really helped us grasp the basics of robotics and most certainly contributed to our victory.”
The winning team from ASD comprised Osama Hyder, Aakash Arora, Madison Crookshanks, Alex Frederick, Hassan Asif and Julian Sam. The Hamza Bin Abdul Mutalib School came in second place, with the International School of Choueifat coming in third.
Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s first Botball programme was held in 2005 during the university’s inaugural academic year at QF. Through this programme, Carnegie Mellon Qatar aims to encourage prospective students to learn about applications within STEM fields and shed light on future disciplines accessible to them.
The Peninsula
