World of Robotics National Championship, Malaysia

​World of Robotics National Championship is large-scale robotics competition. The event jointly organised by the Asia Pacific University of Technology & innovation’s (APU) IMechE student chapter with World of Robotics Sdn. Bhd (WRC), ran from 16 -18 November 2019.

World of Robotics specilises in robotics and STEM education for students age 5-19 years old i in collaboration with Ministry of Education Malaysia and Asia Pacific University’s School of Engineering, a reputable well-established higher education institution in Malaysia. The event ran over three days in November 2019.

The APU IMechE student chapter and WRC event served as a platform for all the pre-school, elementary and high school students in Malaysia to showcase their creativity and talent in robotics.

The objectives of the competition were:

• To provide opportunities for students from public, national and international schools to participate in a robotics competition.
• To promote robotics and STEM education
• To motivate and encourage students from age 5-19 years old to learn and demonstrate their skills and tenants in robotics education.
• To cultivate young talents in robotics and stem education
• To prepare younger generations towards industrial revolution now and future
• As a general platform for students from all walks of life to participate in national robotics competition.
• An annual event that gather talents in robotics education and celebrate the achievement and participations of the students particularly.

This robotic competition differs from other robotics competition in several ways:

• Firstly, it is a competition that provided opportunities for all pre-school and elementary students because the materials for the competition were prepared by the organisers and the IMechE student members; the schools are not require to purchase expensive robotics tools for the participation.
• Secondly, the students were given classes in robotics engineering with the competition as a platform for them to demonstrate and apply what they had learnt. 

The playing field for the competition was only revealed on the day of the competition and not beforehand. This was to ensure a fair competition for all participants. The participants were not allowed to pre-program or pre-build their robots. Everything was to be done on the spot at APU. By doing so we can really see how well the student able to apply their skills in solving the mission and task of the competition by themselves.

The conducive environment of the host APU enabled the students to perform at their best. The World of Robotics National Championship had received good responses from schools, parents and students. During the event, 154 schools participated - the highest number ever. The robotic competition was successfully organised by IMechE student chapter members of APU which were led by Prof Dr Ir Ts Vinesh Thiruchelvam, the Deputy Vice Chancellor and the chapter's Academic Liaison Officer (ALO), Dr Arun Seeralan.