Myanmar team ranks at robot meet

The First Global Robotics Olympics was a great opportunity for the students to get on the global stage, team leader Phone Thiha Kyaw said at a press meet on Friday.
He was proud to say the team did a great job there, making the citizens of the long-isolated nation proud of them.
“We didn’t expect to be in the top 10 at all. What a huge accomplishment for the team and the country,” he said.
The three-day long competition took place at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC from July 16 to 18, with over 100 countries from six continents. The competition aimed to foster passion for science and technology innovation in young people across the world, said Phone Thiha Kyaw.
The team included a roster of talented engineering students from high schools and universities aged between 15 to 18 years old: Phone Thiha Kyaw and Wai Yar Aung of Yangon Technological University, Kyaw Za Zaw of ILBC, Yuzana Win and May Pyae Sone Kyaw of University of Information Technology, Tun Htut Aye of University of Computer Studies, and Wai Yan Htun of Bursa Orhangazi Universitesi, Turkey. The team was mentored and coached by Kyi Zaw Win, a hardware expert, and Myint Myat Aung Zaw, makerspace associate at Phandeeyar, a leading innovation lab in Myanmar.
Phone Thiha Kyaw said the team collaboratively competed with a self-engineered robot to focus on addressing the issue of clean water, which is one of the 14 major scientific and engineering challenges the world is facing today.
He said the team members were selected from a pool of over 50 promising applicants to represent Myanmar in the competition. They built an innovative robot with materials provided by First Global, and through coaching and support from Phandeeyar and USAid.
The team met up at least twice weekly to work on the robot, spending hours at Phandeeyar from March until they left for Washington, DC on July 14. In April, they received a robot kit from First Global to design and build the robot by using coding and design skills.
Phone Thiha Kyaw said they won five out of six matches in two days of competition at the event. They displayed their robot collecting a ball, sorting according to the ball’s colour, dumping to the right place and hanging to the bar. They left Washington, DC for Yangon on July 20 and were warmly welcome by a big crowd of supporters when they arrived back home the next day.
Kyi Zaw Win, a mentor, said he was extremely proud to be part of the team’s incredible journey of growth and dedication. US ambassador Scot Marciel also said the US government was proud to have supported the team and the next generation of thought leaders.
Jes Kaliebe Petersen, chief executive officer of Phandeeyar, said such the team’s success story would inspire many more young people to use STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) skills to move Myanmar forward.
“Myanmar youth has extraordinary talent when it comes to technology and innovation. Achieving a top 10 ranking in technology at a global stage is truly inspiring for all of Myanmar,” he said.