Technology & tinkering: from 17 to 19 November, more than 360 teams from all over the world demonstrated their technological skills in the International Final of the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) at the Dortmund exhibition hall. The International Final takes place annually at different major locations around the world, including most recently in Montréal (2020), Chiang Mai (2018) and Delhi (2016). This year, WRO was held in Germany for the first time. Almost 1,000 children and youth from 73 countries came to Dortmund to show their solutions and compete against other teams in different robotics competitions in several categories, where they presented the robot solutions they had developed for complex problems such as shooting balls, desinfecting surfaces or programming drones.

As part of its activities to empower young talents and promote STEM education, the Wilo-Foundation supported the International WRO Final 2022 in Dortmund. Further sponsors included the Dortmund-based foundations KARL-KOLLE-Stiftung and Elmos-Stiftung, the Ministry of Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Dortmund. According to estimates of the TECHNIK BEGEISTERT (“technology inspires”) association, who organised the event, some 3,000 visitors (in addition to the participants themselves) attended WRO free of charge, watched fascinating competitions and delved into the world of STEM, an acronym for science, technology, engineering and math.

This year, everyone was invited to join in: there were more “STEMtastic” side events than ever before, for example “interactive stations”, where visitors could try out their skills, practical workshops, fascinating live demonstrations, and interesting speeches, such as the presentation “My Robot and me – what will our lives look like in 2030?” by Jennifer Harnau, member of the Idea Management Team of the Wilo Group headquartered in Dortmund.