Team Sri Lanka Wins Gold in Robotics Olympiad

Team Sri Lanka came 6th out of 192 countries at the FIRST Global Challenge in Athens from 26-29 September and came home with a Gold medal after winning the Zhang Heng Award for Engineering Design, the highest prize for technical achievement awarded by the organising committee, for the second time in three years.

The FIRST Global Challenge (FGC), the largest Robotics competition in the world for school students, aims to inspire young people to pursue careers in STEM. As a prestigious international event, it has in the past been visited by leaders such as Ivanka Trump, Mexican President Manuel López Obrador and World Bank President Dr. Jim Yong Kim. FGC 2024 was honoured by a message from the White House commending its

impact and musician will.i.am, a supporter of FGC since its inception, performed at the closing ceremony.

For the eighth consecutive year, Elizabeth Moir School was invited to assemble the team that would represent Sri Lanka. Previous teams organised by the school took part in competitions in Washington, D.C., Mexico City, Dubai, Geneva and Singapore.  The team has won an award for technical excellence and engineering at every tournament since the inaugural event in Washington.

Each year the school has invited students from other schools to take part along with its own students. Previous teams have included students from the British School in Colombo, St. John’s College, Jaffna and Richmond College, Galle. This year’s team included students from Dharmapala College and St. Sebastian’s College.

The delegation that went to Athens consisted of Raveen Akuretiyagama, Maleeka Raddygala, Hiveen Ramachandra, Tharul Senanayake and Supul Baddegama, all from Elizabeth Moir School. They, along with teammates Pulsitha Peiris and Savain Fernando, spent several months designing, building and programming the robot. The theme of the FIRST Global Challenge 2024 was Feeding the Future. The teams competed to complete challenges that “highlight the need to simultaneously improve economic, social, and environmental impacts in order to create a truly sustainable food system.” Team Mentor Shivashankaran Satchithananthan said: “The schedule was intense, with back-to-back games pushing teams to strategies and work on their robots in between matches. Despite the pressure, they rose to the challenge and delivered an outstanding performance.”

Related News

img

Group of teachers stage silent protest at Education Ministry

A group of teachers from national schools who arrived at the Ministry of Education this morning engaged in a silent protest inside…

Read More
img

Worship on Advancing Digital Frontiers Computing, IT for Business and Ethical Hacking at NIBM

A workshop on theories, practical applications and principles valued in the fields of BSc Computing, IT for Business, and Ethical Hacking was…

Read More
img

Algokit 3.0 : Workshop at IIT Campus

A special workshop powered by Algorand, one of the world’s leading blockchain platforms will be conducted on 17th and 18th September 2025…

Read More
img

Chevening Scholarship Open Day Information Session at British Council Kandy

Chevening Scholarships are awarded to individuals with strong leadership qualities and academic backgrounds. Funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and partner…

Read More
img

Piliyandala Central College Student Parliament at Old Parliament Building, Colombo

The inaugural session of the Piliyandala Central College Student Parliament was held at the Old Parliament building in Colombo. The session was…

Read More

Courses