Team CYPRUS’ vision is to inspire students in Cyprus as well as from all around the world, no matter the distance or cost, to maximize their potential while fulfilling the message of FIRST in the best possible way. As a robotics team, we feel committed to inspire young kids and communities to became a part of the next robotics generation of the world. 

Since 2016, we have attended various world robotics competitions in India, Estonia, Israel, Czech Republic, Spain and the USA. We initially got involved with FIRST during the 2017 FIRST Global Challenge in Washington, D.C. Following that, we participated in the 2018 and 2019 FIRST Tech Challenge. We now feel proud to have returned to FGC 2019 while continuing our journey to FTC 2020. 

In addition to the team manager (Stavros Charalambous) and the technical mentors (Antonakis Lontos – Head Coach, Stelios Avraam, Demetris Photiou, Harris Iordanou, Giorgos Zorpas), our team is composed of 12 students. Five will travel to Dubai (Gregoris Orphanides, Alkinoos Tomaridis, Alexandros Ovanov, Nicolaos Iordanou, Shakil Md Imran) whereas seven more (Christos Karayiannis, Marios Hadjinicolas, Charis Christoforou, Angelina Kouppanou, Mattheos Iosif, Abdisamad Ibrahim Yusuf, Yasin Mohamed) work with the team while being in Cyprus.

Below are a few words of the five students travelling to Dubai on behalf of Team CYPRUS:

Shakil Md Imran: I study at the 1^st Technical School of Cyprus. Originally, I am from Bangladesh. In Cyprus I started working with robotics in February 2019 when a group of students from Epiteugma Training Center, home of the FIRST Tech Challenge Team #13906 Epiteugma Revved-Up, started to teach robotics to refugee students who were under the NGO organization Hope For Children. This sparked my interest in robotics and I feel blessed that I was given this opportunity. I cannot describe the joy I feel, when I was also given the chance to participate in the National Robotics Team Cyprus in FGC 2019 in Dubai. 

Alkinoos Tomaridis (Team Captain FGC 2019): I was born in Nicosia. I am a student at the Pancyprian Lyceum. I enjoy playing the drums, drawing, playing basketball and cycling. I’m thinking about studying Engineering Design since it is an extremely fascinating subject with endless possibilities. The reason I joined FIRST is because I constantly want to learn new things and I am always up for a good challenge. It is also an opportunity that most children my age don’t have. I believe that I am weak regarding my teamwork skills, so working with other people will surely help me. I’m truly grateful for this opportunity to compete at a FIRST event.

Gregoris Orphanides (Team Captain FGC 2017): I was born in Nicosia. I am currently studying at the English School of Nicosia. I enjoy Physics, Chemistry, Math, Biology and Design & Technology. In the summer days I enjoy fishing and swimming, but my full year hobby is playing the violin, doing crossfit, and building robots. I am fascinated by the infinite possibilities that exist within robotics. The main reason I joined FIRST was that I liked the challenge, but mostly I like the idea of a competition where the main goal is collaboration and not competition.

Alexandros Ovanov: My favorite subjects in school are Physics, Math, Design & Technology and Computers. The field of robotics is a fascinating subject for me because I could improve the world and make it a better place to live in, so that is why I joined FIRST so I could accomplish my dreams and be a part of a great community.

Nicolaos Iordanou: I am currently in Year 5 at the Senior School. The lessons I enjoy the most are Physics, Math, Chemistry and Technology. Outside of school I do track and field 4 times a week. At robotics I am hoping to benefit as much as I can from the lessons and learn to improve my ability to work with others. Lastly, I want to contribute as much as I can to my team.