(KUE, November, 2025)—Kotebe University of Education (KUE) held a farewell program for the Science-Shared students who will represent Ethiopia at the upcoming World Robot Olympiad in Singapore.
During the send-off ceremony, Dr. Tewodros Mulugeta, Vice President for Research and Community Engagement at KUE, expressed gratitude to STEAMpower for its strong support. He noted that the KUE STEAM Center won the national competition, earning the students the opportunity to compete internationally. He emphasized that STEAMpower provided the essential materials and encouragement that enabled the students to build their robots independently.
Dr. Tewodros recalled that last year, in the international robotics competition held in Türkiye, the Science-Shared students—supported by the KUE STEAM Center—became champions and brought pride to the country. He noted that this year’s competition marks their second participation and wished the students success in becoming champions once again.
The robot project they are competing with, named Hiwot and designed by the KUE STEM Team, aims to support national health services, particularly in surgery. It is built to help prevent rare cases where surgical tools may remain in the patient following an operation. In addition, it communicates with surgeons using signals to hand over surgical instruments.
Dr. Simenew Keskes, Director of Ethiopian STEAMPower, congratulated the students for winning at the national level and earning the chance to represent Ethiopia in Singapore. He stated that the key to winning the world competition is presenting a strong, solution-driven idea. He advised the students to clearly explain the core problem their robot addresses and to work diligently to secure victory. He also assured them that STEAMpower will provide all necessary support to help transform the project into a real, implementable innovation.
The students who participated in the project, Kirubel Belachew, Dinaol Enku, and Dagem Belachew, explained how their robot Hiwot functions and highlighted its importance for the health sector in providing quick and efficient services.
