I was part of the high school Gecko Robotics Team 2024, and we were going to travel to Singapore to compete in the World Robotics Olympiad (WRO) in the “Future Innovators” category. Our school had two teams: Team 1 comprised of Cohen, Aaron, and Seneka, and Team 2 comprised of me, Milan, and Ethan.  our team We wanted to focus on ideas related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). After brainstorming, we chose to work on two areas of interest with relevant problems and potential solutions. One area was water purification (Goal 6), and the other was waste management (Goals 12 and 15). We decided to focus on waste management as there were already many innovations in water purification. I took on the role of project coordinator, providing guidance, coordination, and support to all areas of the project. We were feeling nervous about the competition, and our primary goal was to gain experience rather than to win. I was excited to visit Singapore as I had never been there before.

During our time in Singapore, we spent the first day at Marina Bay shopping and riding bicycles around the bay. In the evening, we watched the light show at Gardens by the Bay and enjoyed a big dinner at Shake Shack. The following day, we planned to visit the competition venue Ngee Ann Polytechnic Convention Centre to observe other ongoing competitions for different categories before doing some shopping and having dinner at the mall. We returned to the hotel early as the next day was our competition day. My team and I worked from 6 pm to 12 am, fixing minor and major issues with our robot the night before.

On the competition day, we woke up early, packed the robot, and rushed to the venue to set up our stall. Everything went smoothly until it was our turn to present to the judges. Our presentation had some good points initially, but we started to repeat some of them and had a few gaps in presenting the robot. After the presentation, we ordered Subway and had lunch at the venue while waiting for the award ceremony. To our surprise, we received an award, although it was not the top prize. The other team received the Judges’ Favorite award, which was well-deserved, and then we used it for the airport as we had a flight to catch back to Singapore. Overall, the trip was successful, and I had a lot of fun exploring Singapore and participating in the World Robotics Olympiad. This trip was especially meaningful to me as it is my last year in school, and I am looking forward to the next team winning the competition next year.