Media Alert: Fifteenth World Robot Olympiad Finals Set in Thailand
November 12 2018 - 5:00AM
Media Alert: Fifteenth World Robot Olympiad Finals Set in
Thailand
The World Robot Olympiad™ Association plus joint sponsors LEGO®
Education and Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), an industry leader in
automated, scalable and secure networks, today announced this
year’s global finals are due to take place starting this Friday,
November 16, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Four-hundred and eighty-four
teams, comprising over 1,200 individuals from 63 different
countries, are due to participate across eight age- and task-based
categories. The teams will demonstrate their ability to
problem-solve and innovate using LEGO-based robots they have
designed, built and programmed themselves.
This year’s event has a theme of ‘Food Matters’,
around which some of the competitive challenges are based. The
challenges are known in advance so the teams can prepare their
approach, but they must also deal with a ‘surprise rule’ announced
at the start of the finals, testing ability to work as a team,
think quickly and adapt both hardware and software unaided. They
must also begin with their robots disassembled, having limited time
and size constraints to deal with to build from scratch and without
instructions or adult intervention.
To keep up with this year’s finals, please
follow #WRO2018 for daily photo and video updates.
News Highlights:
- The age of participants ranges from
six to 25 years old, spanning starter categories to sophisticated,
business case-driven challenges.
- Robots must be built using only
specified elements, including LEGO® MINDSTORMS® and LEGO® Education
WeDo 2.0, depending on the category.
- Based on previous years, the 2018
Final in Thailand is likely to attract approximately a thousand
spectators over three days of competition.
- Since the 2018 season began in
mid-January, country heats and finals have taken place around the
globe in 70 countries. A total of more than 26,000 teams, have
competed in 444 tournaments for coveted places in the WRO
International Final.
- A team consists of one coach and
two or three team members.
- A series of awards, including the
inaugural “Juniper Networks’ Engineering Simplicity Honors Award”
and the “LEGO Education Creativity Award”, will be made during the
event.
Supporting Quotes
“Robotics is a wonderful platform for inspiring
students to take an interest in STEM. In today’s fast paced
society, we need students to be creative thinkers. WRO challenges
students to come up with creative solutions to complex problems. To
stand out, they need an original idea that will differentiate them
from other competitors. At WRO 2018 we will give the inventors and
engineers of tomorrow a memorable experience that will take them to
the next level.”- Claus Ditlev Christensen, Secretary General at
World Robot Olympiad Association Ltd.
“LEGO Education proudly supports the World Robot
Olympiad because we see that this memorable experience has a
lasting impact on the skills and ambitions of young students around
the world. The science, technology, engineering and math skills,
along with the transferrable skills such as problem solving and
collaboration, they develop here equip them to succeed in the
rapidly changing workforce.” - Camilla Bottke, Head of
Afterschool and Competitions, LEGO Education
“This is not only fun and games - competitors
reach a remarkably high standard of automated engineering to solve
real-world problems. Juniper has always been a passionate advocate
of STEM education as a creative driver for the next generation’s
ability to change things for the better. As the era of digital
transformation continues its momentum, these highly-talented young
people will be in the automation vanguard as they move throughout
their education and into the workplace.”- Mike Marcellin, Chief
Marketing Officer at Juniper Networks
About World Robot Olympiad
Association World Robot Olympiad Association (WRO) is a
nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire young people
around the world to take an interest in STEM. WRO robotics
competitions are popular worldwide and each year the WRO
international final brings together young people from around the
world to present their solutions to the season’s challenges.
Additional information can be found at our website
(www.wro-association.org). Follow WRO on Facebook.
About LEGO EducationLEGO®
Education offers playful learning experiences and teaching
solutions based on the LEGO system of bricks, curriculum-relevant
material, and physical and digital resources to preschool,
elementary, middle school and after school.From early learning to
middle school and beyond, LEGO® Education provides
hands-on learning solutions that engage every student’s natural
curiosity, and helps them develop the skills and confidence they
will need in the future. Follow us on
Twitter @LEGO_Education.
About Juniper NetworksJuniper
Networks simplifies the complexities of networking with products,
solutions and services in the cloud era to transform the
way we connect, work and live. We remove the traditional
constraints of networking to enable our customers and partners to
deliver automated, scalable and secure networks that connect the
world. Additional information can be found at Juniper
Networks (www.juniper.net) or connect with Juniper
on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
Juniper Networks, the Juniper Networks logo and
Junos are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. and/or
its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Other
names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
LEGO®, the LEGO® logo, and MINDSTORMS® are
registered trademarks of The LEGO Group. © 2018 The LEGO Group. All
rights reserved.
Media RelationsPenny StillJuniper NetworksTel:
+44 (0) 1372 385 692Email: pstill@juniper.net
Kari SherroddLEGO EducationTel: +1 860 835
6510Email: kari.sherrodd@LEGO.com
Karen BebelaarWROEmail:
kb@wro-association.org