Mumbai: In an engaging and highly competitive arena at Podar International School, International Robotics Championship, MakeX found its Western Zone winners from Mumbai and Gujarat. The students had the biggest smiles amongst the myriad happy faces who participated in the competition. Cheering and congratulating each other in the team they had this to say – “We are thrilled and proud to win the regional round. With the help of our mentors, teachers and parents, we would want to win the finals in China. MakeX, is an amazing platform for new age education. Combined with games and competition, it helps us in being more focused and agile. Representing our country in the international arena and winning is our ultimate aim.”
The International MakeX competition doesn’t need much introduction. It is one of the biggest arenas for Robotics, most acclaimed globally and is hosted by 30 countries this year with over 250 – 300 teams of different nationalities rising to the top, making appearances in the global finals in China.
MakeX in India brought by Makebot, a leading STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) provider, saw 21 schools participating in the Western Zone competition. The likes of Euro School (Navi Mumbai), Podar International from Mumbai, Dhirubhai Ambani school from Mumbai,CP Goenka from Pune,Don Bosco school from Makarpura, Navrachana Vidyani Vidyalaya from Gujarat, Navrachana International School from Gujarat, Bright day CBSE from Gujarat, Vibgyor High School from Gujarat, Cygnus School from Gujarat, Sarvamangal Concept School from Gujarat and many more had about a total of 55 teams participating with students from the age group of 6 – 16 years in a conflict expanding to three rounds.
THE CROWNED CHAMPIONS
MakeX regional championship was conducted in two groups – Elementary & Intermediate
ELEMENTARY GROUP WINNERS
Team Roborust – Riyan Patel (Cygnus School) from Innovative Brains Academy, Gujarat
Team Droidmetronics – Pratyshnav Choudhary (Vibgyor High School) from IBA, The Robotized World, Gujarat
INTERMEDIATE GROUP WINNERS
OMO Technoforce – Liu Runbang & Hamid Shaikh from CP Goenka School, Pune
Trailblazer – Aarav Parikh & Basieem Siddique from Podar International School, Mumbai
Speaking at this event Dr.Vandana Lulla – Director Principal, Podar International School, said “Competitions like these where multiple team comes together and work towards solving a common problem with an innovative approach, allows students to play a more active role in their own learning process while giving them the opportunity to develop technical skills that will be needed in their future careers. It helps students build self – confidence, digital literacy skills in an environment full of digitalization, fun and joy, the digital education and competition allows students to learn various aspects of life and empower them to become responsible global citizens.”
Speaking on the significance of STEAM education and the participation of Indian students in an international Robotics platform, Mr Amit Verma, CEO & Director, MakeBot, said “As a futuristic education technology and STEAM learning provider, we believe in offering new age experiential learning for students in the 21st century. With MakeX, our students get a chance to participate and showcase their skills on an international platform, which is a huge motivational factor not only for them but also for parents and teachers. For STEAM and Robotics to be accepted as a vital part of the next generation education system, such international recognition can go a long way. As strong promoters of STEAM Learning, we are honoured to be able to contribute towards driving a deeper understanding and value of Robotics and steam learning among parents, teachers and students.”
Makebot, through its extensive network of schools and collaborations in the country, is conducting several state and regional level competitions, so as to select the best teams that will represent India at the international arena. These include city specific competitions in Mumbai, Ajmer, Bengaluru, and Raipur followed by a national championship to be held in Mumbai on 9th Nov 2019. Through the competition, students are expected to devise creative solutions to difficult problems, work as a team, learn sportsmanship, communicate effectively and build leadership skills. The finals for MakeX 2019 are scheduled to be held in China, Guangzhou on 29th November, 2019 at Asian Games Town Gymnasium. MakeX competition focuses on themes that promote innovative thinking and problem solving capacities of students, while helping them to drive the creative imagination for the same. The theme for MakeX 2019 is “City Lights” and it is aimed at challenging young people to solve real-world problems that we may face every day, including environmental pollution, food safety, recycling, viral infection and more, by applying STEAM concepts to Robotics.