Abu Dhabi Education Council wins bid to host World Robot Olympiad

"Hosting the World Robot Olympiad is not just an event, it is a key milestone in Abu Dhabi's long commitment to excellence in education and technology," H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili, Director General of ADEC said.

"We will offer the most exciting and innovative event possible for our children and will ensure that the experience inspires them to excel, build global friendships, and even go on to make advancements in the field."

The World Robot Olympiad is a global robotics competition for students at both the primary and secondary school level. It aims to build innovation, creativity, and problem solving skills in students who work in small teams to assemble robots.

The competition consists of two categories. In the Regular Category, teams must assemble robots to solve specific problems. In the Open Category, teams design robots based on a given theme. ADEC has sponsored the UAE National Robot Olympiad for the past two years. This year, 31 teams across the Emirates participated in the national event and 15 students and four teaches traveled to South Korea to compete in the international event.

The international WRO was first held in Singapore in 2004. Abu Dhabi will be the first city outside of South East Asia to host the international competition.

Over 2000 students from around the world in Primary and Secondary school are expected to participate in the Abu Dhabi event.

"ADEC won the right to host the WRO in 2011 because of our 10 Year strategic education transformation agenda and in particular our commitment to providing students with world class IT infrastructure and raising ICT curriculum standards."

said H.E. Dr Al-Khaili.

"Add to this Abu Dhabi's extensive expertise and success in hosting major events and our world class facilities, we are sure the 2011 World Robot Olympiad will be another exciting event in our city" added H.E. Dr Al-Khaili.

The WRO bid delegation team included: H.E. Dr. Mugheer Khamis Al-Khaili, Director General of ADEC; Dr. Rafic Makki, Executive Director of ADEC's Office for Strategic Affairs; Dr. Nikolaos Mavridis, Founder and Director of the Interactive Robotics and Media Lab at UAE University; John Nammour, Program Manager, ADEC's Office of Global Partnerships; and Kerry Bailey, Education Consultant - ICT Model Schools; Erin Uritus, Senior Advisor to ADEC's Office of Strategic Affairs and Strategic Communications Team; Atef Al-Bastaki, Senior Tourism Industry Emiratisation Executive of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.