SMK Bintulu shines at national robotics outing
KUCHING: SMK Bintulu has made Sarawak proud again by bringing home the gold medal that they won in the ‘Junior High Open’ category of the National Robotics Competition ( NRC) 2016.
The accomplishment by Joel Yang Kai Sheng, Christian Caleb Shane and Ronan Ling Jing Yik – under the charge of teacher/ coach Yong Yee Yung – earned them a spot at this year’s World Robot Olympiad to be held in New Delhi, India from Nov 25 to 27.
T he NRC 2016 was held at Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Seri Iskandar, Perak from Sept 23 to 25.
“This is the first time that our school had ever won gold in this category. We won in other categories before, but not this one,” Ling Sim Hie, another coach of SMK Bintulu said yesterday.
The school sent two teams to the competition.
“Last year, we sent three teams and won three gold medals in other categories. The win qualified us to participate at the world competition. So we sent all three winning teams to compete at the World Robot Olympiad in Doha, Qatar last year. However, we did not win anything there.
“We hope that this year, we would be able to make some breakthrough in New Delhi,” said Ling.
SMK Bintulu has been very active in competitions such as the NRC and the ‘First Lego League’ (FLL) – the school has been known to be regular winners in both competitions.
The school made Malaysia proud earlier this year by winning the ‘Presentation Award’ at the FLL Asia Pacific Open Championships 2016 in Macquarie University, Australia from July 3 to 5 – where a total of 40 teams from 21 countries gathered.
Prior to this, SMK Bintulu won the overall championship title of FLL Malaysia and placed fifth in the ‘Robot Performance’ category during the tournament that ran from May 27 to 29 at Institusi Pendidikan Guru Kampus Bahasa Melayu in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur.
Like FLL, NRC is aimed to develop and strengthen critical and creative thinking as well as social aptitude, such as problem-solving and collaborative teamwork skills that are the essential prerequisites for success in further studies and future careers.
NRC is also aimed at helping students build a solid foundation in mathematics, science, technology, design and ICT through hands- on experience.
It enables students to develop logical and systematic thinking as they plan and implement programmes through the programming of robots.
The NRC also promotes competition in robotics among students as a healthy and fulfilling pastime.
This is the first time that our school had ever won gold in this category. We won in other categories before, but not this one. — Ling Sim Hie, SMK Bintulu team coach