The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Local student competes at World Robotics Olympiad
Imran Chaudhery, a senior at Summit High School in Fontana, is part of a robotics team that represented the United States at the 2023 World Robotics Olympiad staged in November in Panama.
Chaudhery was first drawn to robotics in sixth grade when his mother put him in an after-school robotics program at Wayne Ruble Middle School. As he learned, he sharpened his skills through competitions with the team and eventually took on more leadership and programmer roles.
“The competitions I’ve participated in have really impacted my mentality,” Chaudhery said in a news release. “I take every competition
as a learning opportunity so I can continue to improve on my skills. I have also learned to procrastinate a lot less and to have more of a growth mindset in everything that I do.”
Chaudhery joined a robotics team outside of school and began earning team victories at competitions. He earned a spot in the World Robotics Olympiad Friendship Tournament in Denmark in 2019 and again in September 2023 before he and his team competed at the 2023 World Robotics Olympiad in November.
“It was amazing to see and learn about different cultures and backgrounds at the World Robotics Olympiad,” Chaudhery said in the news release. “You get to become friends and compete with people from all over the world and see how different people live their lives.”
In addition to competing, Chaudhery coaches elementary students throughout Upland on the basics of coding and robotics. He is also involved in activities at Summit High School, serving as president of the STEM club and vice president of the school’s Skillsusa chapter.
He is a student in the mechatronics career technical education pathway, in which students learn electrical and mechanical engineering principles fundamental to the creation of robotic and automated systems.
“Imran is a phenomenal student who takes on challenges from tough courses and motivates other students in class,” Marco Torres, Summit High School STEM adviser and mechatronics teacher, said in the news release. “He is very well rounded and displays exceptional skills both on the software and hardware side of robotics. I know he’s going to go on to do incredible things after he graduates.”
Chaudhery hopes to pursue a degree in either cybersecurity or computer science with a push toward software engineering.