AL SAYER, KFAS, KIC partners for KUBOT challenge
With a vision to enable high school students in Kuwait towards creating challenging environment to gain knowledge and skills in robotics platform, AL SAYER Holding in association with Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS), and Kuwait Innovation Center (KIC) launched the innovative Kuwait Robot (KUBOT) challenge.
The launch ceremony was attended by key delegates including Sayer Bader Al Sayer Executive Vice Chairman & Board Member at AL SAYER Holding, Nehad Al Haj Ali Deputy Group Manager Corporate Excellence, Shibu Mohamed Manager CSR representing AL SAYER Holding along with Dr Salam Al-Ablani, Director of the Scientific Culture Directorate KFAS, Dr Bassam Alfeeli Director of Innovation & Enterprise KFAS, Dr Layla Al-Musawi Program Manager Scientific Culture Directorate, Eng Mohammad Al Refaei General Manager KIC, and Eng Mohammad Al Jundub Chief Technology Officer KIC.
According to Sayer Al Sayer, “We have partnered this event to promote the spirit of positivity among students, in order to bring a change in mindset towards new learning and challenges. Such competitions and challenges help the new generation kids to utilize the time and technology effectively molds them from their childhood to eventually bring a big positive impact in the future”.
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the future. Challenges like “KUBOT” are to help students to build science, engineering and technology skills. Inspire them to innovate, practice teamwork and develop soft skill capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership skills. Dr Salam Al-Ablani Director of the Scientific Culture Directorate KFAS, anticipates this competition to raise awareness among students, teachers and schools on the importance of keeping up with modern-day technology in the education and to acquire experience and guidance in the field of robotic hardware and software applications.
“It is really exciting to see the students and their supervisors to face the real challenge scenario to build and program the robot to solve onboard obstacles with simplicity, accuracy and speed,” commented Dr Salam. Through this challenge, participants will learn several scientific concepts, including hardware, electrical and electronic components, sensors and controllers that take readings from the environment and turn them into electrical communication signals, principles of robot programming and intelligent algorithms, and most importantly teamwork and collaborative skills to put forward technology to solve problems, and open new way of thinking.
According to Nehad Al Haj Ali, “We have seen the milestones achieved though industry transformation. And over a time, it is getting matured through Industry 4.0 revolutions which actively promote digitalization with logically connected environment to experience an innovative and intelligent automated cycle. Industry is still evolving through internet of things, cloud computing, optimized supply chains, robotics and artificial intelligence to build a knowledge-based economy. And we highly anticipate KUBOT to open a new challenge to ‘Start Your Impossible’ for the students to ignite their creativity to experience how technology and robotics could solve real life issues through a simulated automatic environment.”
Eng Mohammad Al Refaei General Manager Kuwait Innovation Center announced the participation of 14 schools and 30 students and 14 supervisors from public and private schools for the KUBOT Challenge. At KIC campus they underwent rigorous intensive one-week training and two weeks of office hours and assistance for an innovative learning on robotic hardware and software coding to face the final competition during 1st week of November 2019.
“I trust this competition will be a promising start for aspiring students and I am confident that they will realize the significance of this field in the futureand how it will impact technology evolution for a promising career tomorrow,” said Eng Mohammad.