His Excellency Haji Haini bin Haji Hashim, the Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to the Russian Federation with the delegates from Brunei for the World Robot Olympiad 2014 at the Olympic Park, Sochi, Russia on the 21st November evening.

His Excellency as one of the special guests during the opening ceremony of WRO 2014

The first day of the World Robot Olympiad 2014 was mostly setting up and gearing for the judging day which fell on the second day. The opening ceremony was also held on the evening of the first day at the Sochi Olympic Park.

It was also a privilege that His Excellency Haji Haini bin Haji Hashim, the Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to Russian Federation was invited as one of the special guests for the opening ceremony.

I’m pretty amazed with this event and it was my first time witnessing a world wide scale as I was already familiar with Brunei Robotics Olympic competition. This kinda reminds me of the World Cup where you compete among the best and to have Brunei to be part of this event alone is very encouraging and I do hope the students did their best and have fun at the same time.

Judging from their props and set up, it was nice to see students and coaches taking this competition very, very seriously. Well, sometimes, overdoing something might not be an ideal formula to win just as long your ideas and prototype do make sense. And yes, I notice the different judges have different opinions and perceptions on things and they can simply ask questions that are too complex for the students to understand.

Yesterday was already the presentation and judging period but the final day will determine who have the higher chances of winning as the shortlisted ones will be asked to carry out another presentation to the judges for the final assessment.

All the best to the Brunei team and I do hope we can bring more teams from Brunei Darussalam because this program is not just educational but also brings out a more positive character from the individual.

It was a full house affair using an open space concept

Students from Sungai Tali holding the Brunei flag on stage

What supposed to be a half an hour opening turned out to be longer but the opening didn’t look that grand but just nice. I kinda expected more coming from Russia.

The lady usher for the VIP that evening and I managed to take a selfie with her #score

This is the following day (2nd day of the event) which is the crucial part of WRO 2014 as the presentation and judging took place and it will determine who will be shortlisted for the finals.

I have to salute to many of the students as they are really full on gear for the presentation of their respective projects

Students from Thailand using their traditional clothes

Team Brunei with its project “Robotlifter” from Sayyidina Umar Al-Khattab Secondary School getting ready for their project

Nina explaining to the judge of their project

I’m proud of the students from Brunei. We do have potential and let’s start working for next year’s WRO in Qatar 2015 😀

Good to see kids taking photos with one another

The Japanese have great vocal for their presentation

Somehow the guy on the right reminds me of Scott Cassell

Interesting chair

These kids are really determined

Brunei didn’t send anyone for this particular category. Hopefully by next year or so.

The huddle from the Philippines. This project must have meant a lot to them.

 

Sarimah Abu Bakar, Acting Head of STEP (right) with the Brunei delegates who will participate in the World Robot Olympiad 2014 in Sochi, Russia, accompanied by teachers, a judge and an LO at the Brunei International Airport.

This is the 6th time that Brunei is participating in the World Robot Olympiad and this year, Sochi, Russia, will be hosting the competition. Our Brunei contingent will be competing in two categories and they will be represented by Sungai Tali Primary School and Sayyidina Umar Al-Khattab Secondary School.

How they were selected to represent Brunei was when they won this year’s Brunei Robotics Olympiad a few months ago. One of the winners was team SIERRA SIERRA, a group of students ( Naimatul Basirah binti Haji Aliuddin and Nur Amni Amanina binti Hj Narudin) from the Sungai Tali Primary School led by Ronny bin Puasa, their teacher. They developed Agrospace, a portable autonomous space farm that supplies food to astronauts, an alternative solution to costly food for space flights. Interesting!!

Sayyidina Umar Al-Khattab Secondary School will represent the Secondary level and they are represented by team SMSUA TECH-NOBOT. Their project is called Robotlifter. The students presenting are Nor Muthiah binti Esa, Izzah Haziqah binti Hj Chuchu and Ummi Nur Su’aidah binti Sufrain which are led by Radzuan bin Hj Chuchu, their teacher.

The delegation is led by Satinah binti Hj Abang, Student Officer of Science Technology and Environment Partnership (STEP) Centre. Also part of the delegation is Ameliana binti A. Embran (Vokasional Nakhoda Ragam School) who will be a judge in the World Robot Olympiad 2014.

Brunei has been participating in 6 WRO competitions (Singapore 2004, Thailand 2005, China 2006, Malaysia 2012, Indonesia 2013). So it’s pretty good to know that Brunei is participating for this year’s competition. This will give more exposure to Brunei Darussalam especially for the students as well as the opportunity for Brunei to host the WRO in the near future.

Families and friends dropped by the airport to send off the participants. Also sending them off is Sarimah Abu Bakar, Acting Head of STEP.

I’m quite fortunate to be tagged along for the competition as the official social media for their progress in Sochi, Russia. A big thank you to the Ministry of Education, Russian Embassy (for the visa) and of course, Faridah, for this golden opportunity.

I shall be posting more pictures on my instagram and we are currently in Dubai International Hotel (hotel transit) before departing to Moscow. We have an 8 hour wait though. Boohoo. More updates soon. Till then, have a great day!!

Prayers before taking off to the first leg of the trip

It has been a while since I have been on a Dreamliner 😀

Getting our boarding passes for Moscow and Sochi. Yay, we are flying on Emirates

I forgot his name but he was quite helpful and he works for the Brunei Embassy at Abu Dhabi

Our official jacket is green

It’s good to see parents coming down to support

Heading to our transit hotel

Radzuan coordinating with the students

The Dubai International Hotel we are bunking in for the next few hours before flying off

Back in September when team SIERRA SIERRA from Sungai Tali Primary School won in the primary category in the Brunei Robotics Olympiad. Image courtesy of The Brunei Times.