The Faculty of Engineering (FE) at Notre Dame University-Louaize (NDU) organized on Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11, 2017, the “4th Vex Robotics Competition (VRC) Lebanon 2017.”
Competing in the various categories were middle and high school students, university students, and Syrian students (refugees).
Chairperson of the Department of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Najib Metni delivered the welcome note in which he thanked all those who helped and contributed toward making the event a success.
For his part, Dean of the FE Dr. Michel Hayek highlighted the significance of the event in general and noted its significance for the Faculty in particular. He said that the VRC had taken on a new dimension this year with the inclusion of a category for Syrian refugee students.
VRC President Omar Hussein stressed the main objective of the competition, which is to train students on how to plan and create.
The representative of Media Association for Peace (MAP), an association set up for Syrian refugees, Fadi Halabi mentioned the importance of this event, especially with the addition of the ROBOGEE category for Syrian refugee students.
Winners received an amount of US$3,000 in addition to the much sought-after qualification to participate in the international competition that will take place in the United States of America.
The winners were:
1. Middle and High Schools Category: New Century School (middle school); Student Technology Club (high school).
2. Universities Category (VEXU): Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK).
3. Syrian Refugees Category (ROBOGEE): Baraem el-Sham.
4. NDU One-year Scholarship: Awarded to Rayan Haddad (Ain Najem School); Karim Abdo (Besancon School); and Carlos Bou Dagher (Dhour el- Choueir, public school).