The Moldovan team won two gold medals at the FIRST Global Challenge 2024 robotics Olympiad in Athens
According to the Ministry of Education and Research, the Moldovan team received the FIRST Global Winning Alliance medal, which is awarded to the 4 alliance teams that won the final match. The Moldovan team won this title in alliance with teams from China, Madagascar and Cook Islands. The second gold medal was won in the category “Innovation in Engineering”. The Ustad Ahmad Lahori Prize for Innovation in Engineering is awarded to teams that demonstrate creativity and innovation in building a robot to fulfill a specific aspect of the competition, with teams having to demonstrate professionalism and collaboration, demonstrate a unique and practical robot function, and present their design to the jury in a spectacular manner. The official Moldovan team included students from the M. Viteazul, G. Meniuc, M. Kogălniceanu and Socrate lyceums as well as the mentor of the Tekwill Academy Kids project. FIRST Global Challenge Robotics Olympiad is an annual global competition that brings together high school students from over 190 countries to solve real-world problems using robotics. The event promotes STEM education and encourages cross-cultural collaboration to help students develop technical skills while emphasizing the value of teamwork. FIRST Global is not only a competition, but also a platform that builds a global community of young innovators who seek to use technology to make positive changes in society. The motto of this year's competition, which took place from September 26 to 29 in Athens, was “Food of the Future” and the participants created sustainable food systems. The participation of the Moldovan team in the competition was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Future Technologies Activity (FTA), which is funded by USAID, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Premier Energy Distribution and General Asigurări also provided support this year, while FabLab Asigurări and the Technical University of Moldova provided facilities for training and support in the process of building the robot's mission site. The logistic and organizational part and coordination was provided by the National Center for Digital Innovation in Education “Class of the Future”, which implements the national program of educational robotics in the country. It is worth noting that the Moldovan robotics team has been participating in the FIRST Global Challenge since 2017. During these years, the Moldovan team got 5 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals. // 01.10.2024 – InfoMarket
