This year’s FIRST Global Challenge team representing Croatia comes from Ivanić-Grad. Not far from the capital of Croatia, there is an IT club full of geniuses and lovers of robotics and informatics called Informatički klub “NET”.

The club was founded in 1996 and since then it primarily deals with informatics, and later, having gathered a larger number of participants, also robotics and STEM. For the past 15 years we are conducting STEM field workshops, promoting and teaching knowledge to the young and the elderly. Our elementary school students mostly have a great interest in robotics, but we work on the most developed and advanced topics with high school students who will represent us this year with our mentors.

For us, it is a great success to be part of the whole world in the STEM field. Primarily because we fight together against a common problem – hunger in the world. We believe that the topic “Feeding the Future” is of crucial character in order to make these young minds aware and encourage them to think together and solve such global problems. Their pure and free mind can design and realize exactly what we need at this moment, but also in the future. Teamwork, critical thinking, inclusivity and innovation is what adorns them, and only together can they create, in peace, a better world.

We are honored to be a part of this kind of competition, and we believe that this is the pinnacle of robotics and informatics. Our companies and organizations support us a lot, and without them it would not be possible to attend the FIRST Global challenge in Athens.

World, see you in Athens!

TEAM MEMBERS

Stela Jalžečić, team captain
My name is Stela Jalžečić, I am 17 years old. I attend the 5th science and mathematics high school in Zagreb, majoring in mathematics and informatics. I come from Križ, a small place that inspired me to work in technology and robotics. I have been involved in robotics since the fourth grade of elementary school and since then I have participated in various competitions, including FLL (FIRST LEGO League), RoboCup and WRO (World Robotic Olympiad). This year, for the fourth time, I attended the summer robotics camp in Petica, where I gained new knowledge and skills, and I also participated in the summer technical camp in Kraljevica. Robotics is my passion and I look forward to every opportunity to apply my knowledge in creating innovative solutions. I hope that with my work and enthusiasm I will be able to improve the world and contribute to technological progress.

Marin Kurešić, lead programmer
My name is Marin Kurešić, and I am 17 years old. I live in Ivanić-Grad near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. I have finished my third year of education at the Technical School Ruđer Bošković in Zagreb. I have been doing robotics for the last 7 years. Our robotics preparations take place at a small robotics club in the basement of the town’s firehouse. It is nothing too serious really, but nonetheless very special to me because robotics has had a significant role throughout a half of my life. I already have some experience related to these kinds of competitions, having participated in several smaller competitions such as FLL (FIRST LEGO League), ROBOCUP Junior 2019 Austria, Croatian Makers League, Infokup, HONI and LOGO league. I am looking forward to the FIRST Global Challenge Athens and can’t wait to gain new experiences and further broaden my knowledge and thinking in the area of robotics.

Marko Fugaš, programmer
Hi, I am Marko Fugaš, a 14-year-old (at the time of writing) with a passion for robotics that is out of this world! Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated by how machines work, from simple LEGO creations to complex robots. Growing up, my room was often covered in small toys that I took apart to see how they functioned. My journey into robotics began when I joined the IT club I.K. “NET” at 13 years old. I remember arriving in a small room filled with computers and boxes filled to the brim with LEGO bricks. That moment sparked something inside me – a thirst for knowledge about programming and engineering. I joined the robotics club just in time for my first ever FIRST LEGO League competition in Croatia. Although my team did not make it to the 1st place, I had a great time and learned many things about building LEGO bricks, teamwork, programming, and the importance of robots in today’s world. Outside of school, I devour books and online tutorials, constantly learning new skills and techniques. My dream is to someday create robots for the improvement of our daily lives, or even help other people’s wishes come true. The idea of contributing to advancements in technology and making a positive impact on society is what drives me forward. When I’m not tinkering with robots, you can often find me playing videogames, or watching documentaries about various subjects. I believe in the power of imagination and innovation to change the world, and I’m determined to be at the forefront of that change.
My journey in robotics is just beginning, and I can’t wait to see where it takes me next. With every project, I’m learning, growing, and challenging myself to think differently. Who knows? Maybe one day, I’ll build the next generation of robots that revolutionize how we live and work.

Arian Večerin, lead builder
My name is Arian Večerin. I live in Vrbovec, where I attend the third year of vocational high school, CNC operator. I encountered robotics for the first time during my internship at the ASEMO company based in Vrbovec. I am an excellent student with a grade point average of 5.0.
Based on my grades, I receive monthly support in the form of a scholarship from the City. I have always been interested in robotics, which is my goal of furthering my education after completing my vocational education. My class teacher is one of the coordinators of the project under construction for further education, which I am very much looking forward to. I have never had the opportunity to participate in this kind of presentation and competition. My first competition in robotics was at the national level against a team from the city of Rovinj. The emotions that were present at that moment are immeasurable in words. The opportunity to participate in this project was given to me by a professor from school (Branko Lončar), who connected me with my current mentors. The team from the club pleasantly surprised me with its approach, open cooperation, development of ideas and the desire to finally put those ideas into action. I got the opportunity to show but also learn something new, handle terminology, technique and strengthen social competences, which gives me great satisfaction in personal development.

Fran Mance, assistant builder – robot tester and driver
My name is Fran Mance, I am 14 years old. I have two sisters, one younger and one older. I enrolled in the Ivan Švear High School, majoring in electrical machinery technician with the application of computing, because I want to learn how to apply the knowledge I have acquired so far in new areas. I participated in the county competition in electrical engineering. I come from Ivanić-Grad and I am a member of the IT club “NET”. I have been doing robotics for 3 years and have participated in a couple of competitions such as FLL (FIRST LEGO League). I love robotics and would like to be able to apply and expand my knowledge later in life.

TEAM MENTORS

Hrvoje Tišljar, mentor
Hrvoje Tišljar has been a long-time lecturer and mentor in the fields of informatics and robotics in the programming languages LOGO and C++, and platforms CoSpace, LEGO, Scratch, Arduino, Mblock, and offers vast knowledge and experience on the subject. He is one of the two mentors who will be leading the FGC Croatia Team 2024 in Athens (Greece). At the World Robotics Junior Championship 2016 (WRCJ) which was held in Leipzig (Germany) where he participated as one of the mentors of the Croatian national team, he won the second individual place in the Primary category on the CoSpace Rescue robotic platform, and the first place in the Super team category. Furthermore, in 2017, as a mentor, he led the “NET IT” team at the Robo Cup Junior Austria Open, where he also won second place with the younger members in the Primary category on the CoSpace Rescue platform. In 2018 and 2019 he participated with his “NET IT” team at the Robobum junior robotics competition held in Maribor (Slovenia), and they won second and first place in the Primary category. After that, in 2020, he and his team qualified for the WRCJ held in Bordeaux (France) and the European Robotics Junior Championship (ERCJ) held in Porto (Portugal), which was ultimately postponed due to the pandemic. This year, he will be leading the team called FGC Team Croatia 2024 together with other mentors at the World Robotics Competition which will be held in Athens. He advocates for E-sport and is the founder of the Robotics IT Center of Croatia, which is located in his hometown, Ivanić-Grad (Croatia).

Among the more notable accomplishments at state level, he received the Charter and the annual award of the Croatian Association of Technical Culture (CCTC) for his personal contribution to the development and improvement of technical education of children and youth, as well as receiving the Oscar of Knowledge from the Education and Teacher Training Agency and the Minister of Science, Education and Youth of the Republic of Croatia. Furthermore, at the regional level, he won the annual award of the Zajednica tehničke kulture (The Association of Technical culture) of Zagreb County, as well as receiving a number of other social and technical awards. Ten years ago he became, and still is, the president of the Informatics Club “NET” (NET IT), where he has been volunteering since 2000. In his previous work, he was a member of the executive and supervisory board of the Croatian Computer Science Association (CCSA) and the Croatian Robotic Association (CROBOA).

Mario Želježnjak, mentor
Hello world! My name is Mario Želježnjak, but thanks to my high school English teacher, you can call me Iron Man. I am this year’s team mentor for the FIRST Global Challenge in Athens. I became interested in informatics and computers as a child.

My work in the STEM field, robotics and informatics began 15 years ago in the IT club “NET” from Ivanić-Grad, where I come from. For the last 10 years, I have been actively conducting robotics and programming workshops and mentoring children, and I am also the secretary of the club. All the work is based on the education of young people and those interested in the same goal, and I call it “roboticists as ambassadors of the future”. Work in the club started with gaming, assembling computers, learning about software and working in the QBasic program, and only later did a greater interest arise.

As some of the most significant moments in the STEM field, I would mention the beginning of work with the Institute for Youth Development and Innovativeness (IRIM) in 2014 in the Croatian Makers league project, working with makeBlock mBot robots. Since then, I have been continuously participating in the preparation and mentoring of children in the field of robotics. IRIM was followed by work with the Croatian Robotics Association (CROBOA) and the first contact with the FIRST type of competition – FIRST Lego league, which was held in January 2017 at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER) in Zagreb. With our team of small roboticists, we placed fifth out of a total of eleven teams, and after that we attended every FLL with a great interest in improving the children, their knowledge and outlook on robotics. Among other things, I got involved in the programming part of C++, leading a team of elementary school students at the CoSpace Robot competition in the primary category ROBOBum Maribor 2017, taking 1st place, and Maribor 2018, taking 2nd place. Each further success and the increasing number of children in the club increased my interest in improving myself and creating a quality environment at our club workshops. In 2019, we attended the RoboCup Junior Open in Innsbruck, Austria for the first time in the Rescue Line Primary category and despite the competition we took 27th and 32nd place out of 55 teams, it may not be significant, but I am extremely proud of this success.

In the period from 2020 to 2022, in cooperation with the Croatian Society for Robotics (HDR), I was the leader of the “Introduction to Robotics” project, which was attended by more than 300 children working with 3D printed robots using sensors and programming in C++. Additionally, I was involved in summer robotics camps for 3 years in cooperation with the Euroclub summer camp using Ozobot Evo robots, LEGO Mindstorms EV3, LEGO Spike, microBit, micro:Maqueen. I give credit to the club kids for all the results, but I don’t want to ignore the fact that mentoring is extremely necessary in order to channel the children’s interest and knowledge into a proper way of thinking and solving problems. IT club “NET” created me as I am today, an enthusiast for robotics and technical culture with a great desire to spread knowledge and the word about STEM, robotics and programming. Together with my colleague Hrvoje, we are founding the Robotics and IT Center of Croatia, which will be located in Ivanić-Grad (Croatia).

Thank you to our supporters!

Team Media