Building on their impressive achievements at the regional round, three teams from Dewey Tay Ho Tay advanced to the National Finals of the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge*. Competing against nearly 70 teams from schools across the country, these young “engineers” demonstrated remarkable composure and determination, once again conquering a challenging STEM arena and bringing home 2 Second Prizes and 1 Third Prize.
With only a short time between the regional and national rounds, TDSers had limited time to prepare while still balancing their academic and daily schedules. However, grounded in Dewey’s lifelong learning mindset, the teams became even more driven, pushing their performance beyond what they had achieved previously.
Aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the competition challenged teams to develop innovative solutions using open-source technology to address real-world issues such as environmental protection, food security, and community support. At the national level, students tackled more complex tasks, including irrigation and fruit harvesting simulations. Continuous improvement and optimization of robot functionality proved to be the key to success.
Despite it being their first time participating in a large-scale robotics competition, Tu Tuyen, Tri Dung, Minh Duc, and Hoang Minh (9Zurich) advanced to the finals and won Second Prize in the Senior category. As the team member responsible for presenting the field challenge, Minh Duc shared: “Competing alongside students from different schools gave me valuable experience and motivated me to keep improving my knowledge and skills, as well as to pursue new opportunities in the future. Although we feel a bit disappointed about missing the chance to go to Switzerland, this is still a memorable experience filled with lessons and pride for both me and my team.”
Nam Anh (6Liverpool), a member of Dewey Junior 01, also reflected: “The most important thing I learned is that even a small mistake can widen the gap to the leading position. I also realized how crucial teamwork is. Despite the tight preparation time and demanding schedule, we supported each other and gave it our all. Even though we narrowly missed first place, we are still proud of what our team has achieved.”
The competition has provided Dewey students with valuable opportunities to develop real-world problem-solving skills in situations without predefined answers. From programming and testing to constantly adjusting strategies, students are building not only technical expertise but also adaptability—the foundation that will help them go further in STEM and beyond, in any future field.
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The Robotics for Good Youth Challenge Vietnam 2026 is a leading global educational robotics competition, sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the United Nations. The competition is open to Vietnamese students aged 10–19, encouraging them to design, build, and program robots to tackle global challenges and contribute to a more sustainable future. The National Finals are co-organized by the University of Science and Technology of Hanoi (USTH) and the STEM Education Promotion Alliance, under the patronage of the National Innovation Center (NIC).
