On June 26th, two talented robotics teams, accompanied by their dedicated Kenya Connect coaches and a teacher, journeyed to Nairobi to compete in the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) Kenya 2026. Organized by STEM Impact Kenya and hosted at Nova Pioneer (Tatu City), this prestigious national event brought together bright minds from across the country to design, build, and program robots tasked with solving real-world challenges.

This year’s competition theme beautifully explored the intersection of technology and culture. Kenya Connect entered both a Junior and a Senior team into the highly demanding “RoboMission” category, where robots must navigate and complete complex tasks completely autonomously.

Both teams dedicated weeks of intense preparation to mastering their building and coding skills, and their hard work truly paid off on the big stage:

• The Senior Team displayed incredible resilience against fierce competition. While they didn’t take home a trophy this time, they excelled under pressure, brilliantly troubleshooting and rewriting their code on the spot. The experience provided them with invaluable real-world engineering lessons.
• The Junior Team achieved a spectacular milestone, securing 3rd place overall! Exhibiting flawless teamwork and precision coding, their robot executed its tasks perfectly. Winning a bronze medal at a national tournament of this scale is a massive achievement, and we are immensely proud of their focus and ingenuity.

“It is always wonderful coming to this competition every year and seeing what other teams have come up with. It feels good to learn from other teams, and this knowledge helps us prepare for next year’s competition.” — Mary, Junior Team Member

Beyond the competition tables, WRO Kenya 2026 was a transformative experience. Students forged new friendships, exchanged ideas with peers from other schools, and demonstrated exemplary sportsmanship.

Madam Florence from Mbaikini Girls Senior School, who accompanied the students, noted that this level of exposure is invaluable for the students, significantly boosting their confidence and giving them a competitive edge in their academic and future engineering pursuits.

Moving forward, Kenya Connect will integrate the invaluable insights gained from this tournament into our regular robotics curriculum. With plans to begin practicing early for next year’s competition, we are excited to keep building momentum—and bring home even more trophies next year!