Some good news comes to us from South Korea; a Cebu-based educational institution, Marie Ernestine School (MESch), has won the grand prize at the World Robot Olympiad Korea Nationals held from August 7 to 10 at the Osong Convention Center in Cheongju, South Korea.
The MESch team, composed of elementary students Ian Jung, Emmanuel B. Omolon and Gabriele B. Omolon, became the first Filipino team to win the award in the competition.
The team’s coach, Aldefonso Cujardo Sausa, said 110 teams from different Asian countries competed in the event, including two teams from Cebu, but it was their team’s design of a robot that could transport musical equipment, sort color-coded musical notes, and connect cables that won the top plum.
It’s easy to dismiss this as something that will not benefit the country or have much impact, but we say ‘think again.’
Robotics is an up-and-coming industry with a lot of future potential. There’s no telling what the future has in store. What are now some of the world’s biggest industries started out as isolated fields of interest or even hobbies that people largely ignored.
Remember when people thought Artificial Intelligence was not worth banking on? Right now it’s heading to dominate several of the world’s leading industries.
Remember when Information Technology was seen only as a computer geek’s course? Right now it has become essential to all types of businesses that want to expand locally or even globally.
And robotics? With many areas of the world becoming dangerous flashpoints for conflict there will soon be many jobs too dangerous for actual humans to perform. They can also be of use in natural or man-made disasters; and we aren’t seeing a shortage of those anytime soon.
Overall this shows that Filipino design and innovation can become world-class if we put our minds to it.
And in a world that’s increasingly becoming more competitive, this certainly matters.