Team Creotec Philippines won second prize in the recently concluded World Adolescent Robot Contest under the MakeX category held in China.
Thess Bermudez, director of Creotec, said it was an impressive accomplishment for the team that saw 27 countries participating in the competition.
“We were able to beat countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Peru, Paraguay, Colombia, among others. This is a statement that the Philippines is not behind in technology learning, specifically on robotics, given the right training and tools,” she said in a recent e-mail interview with the BusinessMirror.
By joining the international competition, Bermudez said the students were able to improve their competence level in programming and mechanical design, not to mention the experience gained through their engagements with the teams from other countries.
“The team performed beyond our expectations, considering that this is their first time to join in a complex robotics programming competition,” she said.
Cris Tingcang, the team’s coach, said the runner-up finish proved that Filipino students could compete with other countries, such as China, Croatia and the others, in robotics.
“The competition was a great opportunity for students to learn technical skills like programming, robotics assembly, electronics and mechanical design. They learned how to design, assemble and program a robot from scratch on their own to solve the missions of the competition,” he said.
Since the competition required the students a high level of strategic skills and tactics, Tingcang said students learned the value of developing strategies and life skills of communicating with people whom they just met and, at the same time, addressed problems that they could encounter during the match.
Tingcang added that students were able to practice problem-solving, analytical skills, logical thinking and socializing. “The experience they had opened other opportunities that they can grab in science, technology, engineering, arts and math [STEAM],” he said.
Since the competition adopted an advanced platform in nature, Tingcang said it was very challenging for the team because they were not familiar with the platform and the tasks were complex.
“Due to these reasons, we are very glad with our performance because it exceeded what we projected. We were able to compete at a higher level with the stronger teams in the competition,” he said.
Creotec provides learning content in the fields of math and robotics for the K to 12 curriculum to strengthen students’ competencies in the field of STEAM. Its learning programs support the objective of the Department of Education in upgrading the curricular offerings at the K to 12 level through the integration of technology tools with emphasis on problem-solving and logic formulation.
At the same time, Bermudez said there is an immense need to promote awareness on the importance of robotics to prepare the country for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
At the same time, Creotec is currently active in promoting a national robotics competition on October 18 and 19, to be participated in by students from its partner schools and from public schools.
“We have conducted training sessions for public-school teachers to encourage them to be part of the national competition. The winners of the national competition get a chance to represent the country in the end of November for the World MakeX Competition in China,” Bermudez told the BusinessMirror.
She said Creotec is faced with the challenge of creating awareness on the importance of including and implementing robotics in the curriculum as a tool for strengthening the students’ problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
She said the approach fits the learning style of the Gen Z, who have varied learning styles. Moreover, she said it is also important for the school administration and academic community to provide support to this initiative.