The Oman Ministry of Education and Edutech, a provider of educational solutions, will jointly host the first Oman National Robot Olympiad (NRO), a competition for mid-school and high-school students to test their skills in robotics.

The event will be held in conjunction with Comex 2010 Exhibition and Conference on April 29 at the Al Imam Jabir bin Zed Boys School in Muscat with the support of the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) committee and Lego Education.

A total of 34 teams have signed up for the competition to vie for a spot at the (WRO) 2010 to be held in Manila, the Philippines as Oman’s official delegation.

The first Oman NRO will witness participating teams solve basic robotic problems within a predetermined time limit using a set of standard equipment and parts.

This year, participants in the open category will have to assemble a robot following the theme ‘Robot to promote tourism’ and demonstrate their creation’s unique capabilities both in a verbal and written presentation.

Each team will be judged according to their robot’s relevance to the theme, creativity, technical superiority and overall presentation.

“We are focusing on raising a talented and technologically-savvy generation by developing their skills through the science of robotics,” said Khalid Al Siyabi, director general of information technology, Oman Ministry of Education.

“We are confident that this competition will have a significant impact on the science curriculum and the development of students' personality, creativity, and problem solving and decision making skills,” he added.

Established in 2002 in Singapore, the World Robot Olympiad is an annual event that gathers talented young robotics enthusiasts from various countries to exhibit their robotics and creative skills under multiple categories. The event has been to Thailand, China, Taiwan, Japan, and is headed to the Philippines this year.

“We are proud to bring the National Robot Olympiad for the first time to Oman, with high hopes that this initiative will encourage local students to get involved in the sciences through the exciting world of robotics,” said ASF Karim, CEO, Edutech.

“The event’s theme presents a big challenge to the students, and will push them to think outside the box and develop their self-confidence and team playing skills,” he added.

“Robotics is one of the main activities adopted by the IT department of the Oman Ministry of Education because of its huge potential in developing the analytical and creative skills of students across all age groups,” concluded Abdullah Al Bahraini, assistant general manager, digital services and appointed general supervisor for the competition. – TradeArabia News Service