From competition to capability: Aramco Innovation Award immerses World Robot Olympiad (WRO®) winners in Seoul’s industry

Winners from Costa Rica, Malaysia and Australia, recipients of the Aramco Innovation Award, spend a week inside South Korea’s robotics and AI industry.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, April 7, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Three Future Innovators teams from Costa Rica, Malaysia, and Australia, who all stood at the podium at the Word Robot Olympiad (WRO) 2025 International Final, received the Aramco Innovation Award. Their prize is spending this week in Seoul as honoured guests inside facilities where some of the world's most advanced robotics and AI are built. Team Sprout (Costa Rica, 1st place), Team SKYLUX (Malaysia, 2nd place), and ”The Simpsons” (Australia, 3rd place) are in the South Korean capital with their coaches.

This prize is part of Aramco’s global STEM commitment, in partnership with WRO, which reflects its efforts to empower the next generation to imagine the future and build it. Each year, thousands of students from over 100 countries participate in WRO programs, a remarkable testament to how powerful collective learning can be.

The schedule for the three teams that received the Aramco Innovation Award includes a workshop with Aramco subsidiary S-Oil, during which the teams will learn about analytical laboratories and explore how chemical production processes power modern technology. A visit to Naver 1784, the world's first robot-friendly building, whichs serves as a large-scale testbed for advanced robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud technologies, is included. There, students whose projects tackle real-world problems through robotics will discover what the future looks like at scale. During a visit to Doosan Robotics, Korea’s leading collaborative robot manufacturer, the teams will receive basic training and hands-on experience alongside engineers.

An academic visit to Korea University’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, home to the largest number of Aramco-sponsored students in Korea, rounds out a program that connects classroom innovation to research and industry in one of the world’s most concentrated technology ecosystems.

Hussain N. Hanbazazah, Aramco Vice President of Communications Operations & Corporate Citizenship, said: “At Aramco, we see STEM as a cornerstone of future advancment, and we aim to expand access to high-quality STEM education by enabling young talent through strategic partnerships worldwide. Our collaboration with the World Robot Olympiad reflects these ambitions by equipping young minds with the skills, knowledge, and confidence to shape the future. The Aramco Innovation Award celebrates the next generation of pioneers and problem-solvers. Through the teams’ work, we witness what happens when imagination meets purpose and when curiosity is given the chance to lead.”

“The students spent months building solutions to real problems. Seoul is where they see problems being solved at scale, inside the buildings and research institutes where the next generation of robotics is being shaped. That kind of exposure changes how young people see themselves and what they see as possible,” said Claus Ditlev Christensen, World Robot Olympiad Association Secretary General.

“Our trip to Seoul represents an opportunity to connect two worlds – Costa Rica, with its deep understanding of nature, and South Korea, with its leadership in technology. With our project Sprout, we are combining both to design a smart greenhouse that can grow food in extreme environments, even beyond Earth. I’m most excited to see how Korea applies robotics and AI in real-world systems, and I want to bring that inspiration into Sprout and back to Costa Rica to keep building solutions that can have a global impact,” said Emma Music (16), Team Sprout, Costa Rica.

Ends

About the Future Innovators Category
Future Innovators is a project-based challenge in which student teams build robotic solutions to real-world problems. In 2025, more than 5,700 teams across three age groups competed in the Future Innovators category.

About the World Robot Olympiad Association
World Robot Olympiad™ Association (WRO^®) is a global non-profit that empowers over 175,000 young people across more than 100 countries through hands-on robotics challenges. The competition helps students develop creative problem-solving skills while fostering international collaboration and STEM leadership. Learn more: wro-association.org

About the Aramco Innovation Award
The Aramco Innovation Award, presented in partnership with WRO, is an annual STEM prize recognizing exceptional student-led robotics solutions from WRO’s Future Innovators category. Now in its second year, the award celebrates youth-driven innovation with real-world relevance, technical excellence, and social impact.

Tina Lee
World Robot Olympiad Association
press@wro-association.org
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