Elation from winners, as well as groans from frustrated students, echoed as the Eighth Philippine Robotics Olympiad (PRO) reached its last leg on September 25, the last of the three-day event, at the Cyberzone, SM North Edsa, Cyberzone.

Students from the winning schools—including Claret School of Quezon City, Grace Christian College in Quezon City, Science and Technology Center in Lapu-lapu City, Philippine Science High School Bicol, First Asia Institute of Technology and Humanities in Tanauan City, Makati Science High School and Dr. Yanga’s College in Bocaue, Bulacan—will comprise the Philippine Robotics Team to represent the country at the World Robotics Olympiad 2009 to be held in Gyeongbuk Pohang, South Korea, from November 6 to 8.

The country has won a total of five medals, consisting of two golds, two silvers and one bronze, from previous Olympiads.

The Philippines will play host to the World Robotics Olympiad next year.

The eighth PRO, participated in by 27 schools, was organized by Felta Multimedia Inc., in partnership with the Science Education Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (SEI-DOST). The Olympiad is composed of two categories: regular and open.

Preprogrammed robots navigated the mazes designed for the regular category. Points were awarded for successfully following the correct track and for every obstacle passed. Robots had to rely on good programming and solid construction in order to negotiate the maze smoothly.

According to Ruby Cristobal, program director of the Science and Technology Culture Development Division of SEI-DOST, the design and specifications of the mazes were issued from the organizers of the World Robotics Olympiad in Korea—the very same specs that will be used in the tournament in November.

The open category centered on the theme “Artist Robots.” Teams were tasked to create a presentation based on the theme. Presentations were judged based on creativity, technical design, clear demonstration, as well as overall presentation which included auxiliaries like posters and video presentations.

When asked why Felta came up with the competition, Felta president and CEO Mylene Abiva said it was part of the company’s advocacy.

“Students can learn simple engineering, physics and computer programming,” said Abiva.

She explained that it was Felta’s way of providing the country with a “good pool” of scientists, inventors and engineers.

Dr. Ester Ogena, director of SEI-DOST, expressed hope that the tournament will entice more students to get into engineering careers.

“We want more engineers to be produced,” Ogena said.

She explained that the country has no dearth in the number of engineers, but there is a scarcity of engineers going into new research and product development.