DOHA, QATAR - Over 50 high-school students from 29 regional schools showcased their programming skills at a two-day Botball Educational Robotics Program workshop, which kicked off on January 27 at the university's campus. Qatar Shell is once again partnering with Carnegie Mellon Qatar and is sponsoring the Botball 2012 program.
The annual competition introduces secondary school students - who have had no previous exposure to programming languge - to the world of robotics, equiping them with the necessary skills and experience to independently design, build and program autonomous robots. "In two days, particpants were able to command autonomous robots with simple 'C' programming language that would take one of my undergraduate students an entire semester," said Ross Mead, Botball instructor and robotics specialist brought by Carnegie Mellon to Qatar to mentor tournament participants.
Mead went on to say that "Qatar has become an education-oriented country. Carnegie Mellon Qatar is playing an essential role in helping the country attain a highly educated society." Further praising Qatar's vision, Mead said, "If you want to develop a highly educated society, this is how you do it [in reference to Education City]. It is very impressive to see the talent of the future generation of this country and to know that Qatar is moving in the right direction."
This year's global competition will be held in Honalulu, Hawaii. As such, "Reef Renewal," this year's theme, is based off a hypothetical hurricane causing the death of the islands' coral. Students have to design and program their robot to save the coral reef by placing the endangered coral in protected marine habitats. Robots move autonomously by responding to environmental triggers - or colored objects - allowing the students to input commands in the code to have their robots respond to the surroundings.
Damian Dourado, manager for pre-college programs and community outreach for Carnegie Mellon Qatar, commented, "As we embark on the 8th Annual Botball tournament, it is great to see students excited about computer science and robotics. There is a strong desire to learn very complex material amongst them. It will surely create a very exciting and enthusiastic atmosphere on March 30 during the regional tournament."
Teams will meet in March at Carnegie Mellon Qatar in Education City with their robots to face off against each other in a series of competitions. Points will be awarded to the robots that are able to execute the tasks - in this case saving coral - the quickest under two minutes. The winning regional team will travel to the Honolulu in July to compete in the International Botball Tournament and attend the Global Conference on Educational Robotics.
Last year, the American School of Doha won the Botball competition. They went on to represent the Middle East at the Global Conference on Educational Robotics in the United States, earning 2nd in the overall competition.
Countries represented in this year's regional Botball tournament include Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Egypt.
Participating schools at the Qatar workshop included: Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Thani School for Boys; Al Bayan Bilingual School; Al Khor International School; Al Mawakeb School (Al Barsha); Al Mawakeb School (Al Garhoud); Al Ru'ya Bilingual School; Al-Wakra Independent Secondary School for Boys; Alzobara Secondary School for Boys; American School of Doha; Canadian International School of Egypt; Doha College; Doha Independent School; DPS-Modern Indian School; Dukhan English School; Global Academy International; Gulf English School; Hayah International Academy; Hamaza Bin Abdul Muttalib School for Boys; International School of Arts & Sciences; International School of London-Qatar; Khalifa Secondary School for Boys; Lycee Bonaparte; Mossab Bin Omair Secondary School for Boys; Omar Bin Al Khattab Boys School; Qatar Academy; Qatar International School; Raba'a Secondary School for Girls; The British School of Kuwait and The Lebanese School-Qatar.
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ABOUT CARNEGIE MELLON
For more than a century, Carnegie Mellon University has been inspiring innovations that change the world. Consistently top ranked, Carnegie Mellon has more than 11,000 students, 90,000 alumni and 5,000 faculty and staff globally.
In 2004, Qatar Foundation invited Carnegie Mellon to join Education City, a groundbreaking center for scholarship and research. Students from 39 different countries enroll at our world-class facilities in Education City.
Carnegie Mellon Qatar offers undergraduate programs in biological sciences, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems. Carnegie Mellon is firmly committed to Qatar's National Vision 2030 by developing people, society, the economy and the environment.
Learn more at www.qatar.cmu.edu.
© Press Release 2012