Rio Tinto announced recently it will be sponsoring the first regional robotics competition, here in Kitimat.
On May 6 the Zone01 World Robot Olympia (WRO) will see students from Nechako Elementary, St. Anthony’s School and Mount-Elizabeth Middle Secondary School pitting their skills against each other.
The Olympia is a global robotics competition for young people using Lego Mindstorms manufactured by LEGO Education. First held in 2004 in Singapore, the Olympia now attracts more than 20,000 teams from nearly 60 countries to the event.
WRO’s main aim is to bring together young people all over the world to develop their creativity and problem solving skills by organizing challenging and educational robotics competitions.
To prepare for the competition, Rio Tinto facilitated two Zone01 robotics workshops for teachers and students to learn how to use the robots.
The first day of the workshop, which was held at MEMSS, was for teachers, the students joining them on the second day.
Teachers Kim Wilkinson and Brady Conway volunteered to sponsor a robotics club at the school.
“When our students first opened up their kits and began assembling their robots, you could feel the excitement in the air,” said Wilkinson. “Students race to our club to work on their robot. It is so wonderful to see the intensity and concentration on their faces.”
