Cyprus robotics champions set sights on South Korea after Robotex triumph

The Cyprus Computer Society (CCS) organised the Robotex Cyprus 2026 awards ceremony this week, hosted by the Bank of Cyprus (BoC), recognising the winners of the ninth Robotex Cyprus Educational and Sports Robotics Competition, held last June. The competition took place under the auspices of the Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy. The event was addressed by Pampos Christodoulou, the newly appointed president of the Cyprus Youth Organisation (Onek), one of the co-organisers of Robotex Cyprus. Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy also congratulated the young participants in a speech delivered on his behalf by Stavri Ttofa, acting director general of the Deputy Ministry. Ahead of the ceremony, children and their families had the opportunity to take photos at the AI Photobooth and participate in the JOEY Memory Game and Rubik’s Cube-solving competitions, all offered by the Bank of Cyprus. The winners of these competitions were subsequently announced by Elli Ioannidou, director of corporate social responsibility at the BoC. The event opened with the presentation of awards to the volunteers and concluded with the recognition of the coaches. As Andreas Loutsios, president of the CCS, explained, “In this way, we acknowledge and honour the longstanding contribution of everyone who helps develop and help make Robotex an established event in Cyprus.” At the centre of the celebrations were 200 robotics enthusiasts, including school pupils, university students and adults, who, together with their teams, excelled in the finals across more than 25 different competition challenges. The awards, designed and manufactured by Robo, were presented by representatives of the organisations supporting the event. These included the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth, the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus scientific and technical chamber (Etek), IET Cyprus, and the companies XM, Neapolis, ICDL, Novatex, ZEBRA and Netinfo. In addition, lyceum students received scholarships offered by the private universities NUP, EUC, UNIC, UoL, Frederick, UCLan and AUB Mediterraneo. Looking ahead, several Robotex Cyprus winners are preparing to travel to South Korea in December, with the support of the Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF), to represent Cyprus at Robotex International. The organisers wished all participating teams success, expressing the hope that they would continue the tradition of achieving international distinctions and further strengthen Cyprus’ presence on the global educational robotics map.