Lucky for Myanmar, a team of five talented university students are representing the nation in the FIRST Global Robotics Olympics held in Mexico from August 15 to 18, against more than 175 nations.

Supported by Phandeeyar, an innovation lab using technology to speed up development in Myanmar, this is the second time Myanmar students partake in the annual global robotic event. The event is hosted by a non-profit charity focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“Last year’s Myanmar team was ranked sixth out of 163 teams in the Olympics held in Washington. Two students from the team are from my university. They have been of great inspiration to me,” says Thuta Zaw, a student from Yangon Technological University. Along with four others, he left Yangon on August 12 to take part in the competition.