Berekuso (Eastern Region, Ghana) – August 13, 2012 – Ashesi University College today announced the winners of its inaugural robotics competition, the Ashesi Robotics Experience (ARX). The four winning teams were culled from a field of 62 high school students from across Ghana participating in the program. The event, hosted in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation, aimed to encourage greater interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) among African high school students.

“Infrastructure continues to be an enormous challenge across Africa,” said Patrick Awuah, Founder and President of Ashesi University College. “As a result, we believe it’s critical that future engineers are educated using practical, hands-on methodologies. The students that participated in ARX are a shining example of the energy and enthusiasm for STEM learning here in Africa.”

The program culminated in a competition that challenged students to design task-oriented prototype robots. The competition focused on the mock harvesting of pineapples (a popular crop farmed near the Ashesi campus) arranged along a path and in a grid pattern. Teams of 2 - 4 students built and programmed robots to locate, collect and remove the pineapples from a model field in a lab. Students were divided into two groups, intermediate, for those who had some experience using computers and programming and novice, for those who had no prior programming experience.

The winner for the intermediate group was a team called "Determination" (photo above) made up of team members Rhoda Tano-Menka (Aburi Girls Senior High School), Marese Abdul Kaleem (Notre Dame Girls Senior High School), Dennis Mensah (St. Augustine's College) and Ebenezer Asamoah-Gray, (Ghana Secondary Technical School). The second prize in the group went to Joseph Sabie (St Francis Xavier Junior Seminary) Daniel Tetteh (St. Augustin's College), Eunice Owusuaa (Notre Dame Girls Senior High School) and Grace Asiedu (Arch Bishop Porter's Senior High School).

The winning team from the novice group was "The Sharks", made up of team members Henrietta Gborgblorbu (S.O.S. Hermann Gmeiner High School), Josephine Aklgo (Navrongo Senior High School) and Oti Foster Asante (St. Joseph's Secondary Technical School). The runners up in the novice group were Edem Akorli (Abor Senior High School), Charllote Owusu-Ansah (Abakrampa Secondary Technical School), Rhoda Adu-Boafo and Christian Torker (Obuasi Technical High School).

"This week was totally beyond my expectations," said Henrietta Gborgblorbu, from "The Sharks" team. "The program really challenged us to solve problems and use our critical thinking skills. I never knew I would be so excited about robotics but I really loved it. I want to see if I can start a robotics club in my high school from here, so I can do more."

Ashesi Founder and President, Patrick Awuah used the event to announce the launch of a partnership with The MasterCard Foundation which will support scholarships for over 200 students to attend Ashesi over the next 10 years. Patrick Awuah stated, "We are very excited about the opportunity to work with The MasterCard Foundation. This scholarship program will provide support not only for tuition but for room and board, as well as laptops for forty students a year. The MasterCard Foundation is helping us make sure that scholarship students have the same resources as any student that attends Ashesi."

The Mastercard Foundation’s involvement with the Ashesi Robotics Experience(ARX) competition reflects the Foundation’s mission focused on youth learning. The Foundation is specifically focused on finding innovative, market-driven solutions to fostering employment opportunities for youth around the world.

Visit the ARX page for more information about ARX, profiles of participating faculty, staff and students and details of the 2012 programme.

Click here for more photos from the final day of the Ashesi Robotics Experience.

Monday, 6th August 2012 - As part of helping the students understand and learn more about what they could do with Computer Science, five Ashesi alumni came to campus to share their experiences with the group. The alumni, Kwei Quaye-Foli ’09, Regina Agyare ’05, Wilhelm Hesse ’10, Julia Appiah ’10 and Samuel Asumadu ’08, shared great stories from their own high school period.

Each alumni panel memeber explained how they connected their experiences in high school with studying Computer Science and Management Information systems at Ashesi, and how their degrees have been useful for them in their careers and workplaces.

The alumni panel helped the ARX students understand that they could study Computer Science (and engage with technology) regardless of what they study or engage in during high school.

“Even though you may not necessarily study Computer Science (or Management Information Systems) you should always maintain an interest in technology,” Samuel remarked. “Technology is a part of everything we do today, and it will be even more so for you when you start your careers.”

From left: Regina Agyare ’05 is CEO and founder of Soronko Solutions, a social enterprise based here in Ghana. Samuel Asumadu ’08 works as Transaction Banking Officer at Fidelity Bank. Kwei Quaye-Foli ’09 is CEO and co-founder of Sci-Fi Web Technologies, a web development company. Wilhelm Hesse ’10 is a web developer, and also works as a freelance filmmaker and photographer. Julia Appiah ’10 works with KPMG Ghana.

Monday, 6th August 2012 – The participants of the ARX 2012 programme began their first training session today. The students spent their morning learning about the basics of building and programming robots. To start their robotics education, the students gained an understanding of how robots act based on instructions, using their own classmates as ‘test robots’. Later in the day, they started assembling and working with their robots.

The students are using Lego Mindstorm robotics kits which are equipped with a computer and several different sensors that helps the robot interact with its environment. Students have been divided into teams of four, each with one Ashesi student mentor and a laptop computer.

On the first day students were tasked with building a robot and programming it to move forward in a straight line one meter before turning right ninety degrees. The students have named this task “the LegOlympics”, in reference to the 2012 Olympic games.

On the day Ashesi President, Dr. Patrick Awuah, also welcomed the group to campus. Dr. Awuah, in his remarks, explained to the students how exciting Robotics could be, telling them the remarkable story of the NASA Curiosity Mars Rover robot.

“A lot of the things we use today are built by robots, even down to the clothes we wear,” Dr. Awuah remarked. “I believe there’s a lot we can learn from the NASA robot on Mars, the obvious lesson being implied in its name, Curiosity. While you are here this week, ask questions not only of your professors and mentors, but also of each other. Recognise that even when your robots don’t work, there’s a lot you can learn from the process. This is the mindset I hope you approach this week with.”