Robotics experience rapid growth in Cyprus

The field of educational robotics in Cyprus has seen rapid growth in recent years, Panikos Masouras, Secretary of the Board of the Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) and Chairman of the Organising Committee of the Robotex Cyprus Robotics Competition, has told CNA.

Robotex Cyprus will take place this year on the weekend of July 1-2, 2023, at the Sports Centre of the University of Cyprus.

Speaking to CNA ahead of Robotex, Masouras noted that the introduction of the Robotex competition in Cyprus in 2017 gave further impetus to the field of educational robotics and stressed that teams of children from Cyprus are competing internationally with teams from countries with a long tradition and even win first prizes.

This Robotics Competition is organised annually by the Cyprus Computer Society in collaboration and with the support of public and private organisations, on the basis of the international competition.

Robotex Cyprus 23 is open to pupils, students and adults, and participation is free of charge. The winning teams will be eligible to participate in Robotex International 2023 in Estonia, from which the Cypriot delegation has returned with numerous distinctions in previous years.

Masouras told CNA that his year there are around 700 participants in the Robotex Cyprus event.

The event, he said, aims to upgrade the field of educational robotics, introduce robotic technology into education, upgrade the scientific fields of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) and promote innovative forms of learning in the educational system of Cyprus.

Moreover, he stressed that educational robotics has seen rapid growth in recent years in Cyprus.

“The field of educational robotics in Cyprus has grown rapidly in recent years,” Masouras told CNA and praised pioneering organisations for introducing educational robotics to Cyprus.

He expressed the view that the introduction of the Robotex competition in Cyprus in 2017 gave further impetus to the field of educational robotics.

The competition, he said, gave children, students, and adults the opportunity to engage with the sector of robotics in a structured and organised manner on a large scale.

“This is evident by the massive participation in the competition, the large number of public and private educational organisations that have introduced the subject as part of their activities,” he pointed out.

He added that there are currently more than 250 teachers at all levels of the education sector all over Cyprus who introduce this field, noting that a few years ago they were only very few.

Masouras stressed that the Cypriot teams of children are competing internationally along with great teams who have long experience in the field and even come first.

“The upgrade we see in this sector is not only quantitative but also qualitative, and by this, I mean and would like to highlight the fact that a large number of teams of children from Cyprus participate in the international competition and succeed in competing along with teams from countries with a long tradition in the sector such as China, India, America and distinguish themselves by coming first.”

More information about the programme and other related updates can be found at the official website of Robotex Cyprus 2023 at https://robotex.org.cy.