Kuwait City, May 19: Zain and Sabah Al Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity (SACGC) – a center of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), awarded the winning students of the Kuwait National Robotics Competition (KNRC) held earlier this year. After qualifying from the competition, the students proudly represented Kuwait at the VEX Robotics World Championship 2024 held recently in the United States, where Kuwait University’s team achieved the Build Award.
The awarding ceremony was hosted by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences at its headquarters in Kuwait City. In attendance were KFAS Deputy Director General for Support Programs and SACGC Vice Chairman Dr. Saleh Al Aqely, Zain Kuwait Chief Corporate Affairs and Relations Officer Waleed Al Khashti, Sabah Al Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity General Manager Neda Al Dehani, Acting Dean of the College of Science and Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Kuwait University Dr. Mohammed Hussain bin Sabt, and KNRC supervisor Dr. Noura Al Jeri. The students, along with their parents and teachers, were also present.
During the event, the winning teams from middle school, high school, and university levels were awarded. The teams won at KNRC and later qualified to represent Kuwait at the VEX Robotics World Championship in the US. The awarded teams were Kuwait University’s team, American Baccalaureate School (ABS)’s team, SACGC Academy’s team, Kuwait International English School (KIES)’s team, and Ibn Al Ameed School’s team.
From the above, the team from the Computer Science Department, College of Science, Kuwait University, achieved the Build Award at the World Championship. It was the first university-level team from the Middle East to claim an award at the VEX Robotics World Championship 2024 (out of 15 awards). The team was among 120 university-level teams participating in the competition from around the world.
Zain, SACGC, and Kuwait University expressed their pride in all the teams that qualified from KNRC and represented Kuwait in the World Championship in the US. Reaching this international arena is a testament to Kuwaiti young people’s talent and creativity and affirms the fact that they are more than capable to compete with their peers from around the globe.
This international experience has also contributed to growing the students’ passion for technology, and will encourage them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). In addition, this step was a direct outcome of the fruitful partnership between the local public and private sectors to empower the next generation of innovators in Kuwait.
The Kuwait National Robotics Competition was held early this year, organized by the Computer Science Department, College of Science, Kuwait University in partnership with Zain and Sabah Al Ahmad Center for Giftedness and Creativity, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.
This partnership came under the umbrella of Innovation Nation, the initiative under which all of Zain’s innovation and entrepreneurship programs fall, with a focus on STEM areas. The initiative mainly targets young people and entrepreneurs and aims to foster a digitally capable generation.