Mandoulides Robotics and Space Team M-RAST ranked amongst the best in First Lego League International (Robotics, Research and Innovation tournament) which was held in Lebanon from 14 to 16 June, 2019.
The students of M-RAST raised the Greek flag high and made their country proud by winning the following places in this demanding world final:
2nd place in Robot Game with a very high score, just one point below the winners from Canada.
2nd place in Knockout Cup defeating all finalists except for the Canadians in a very exciting final.
2nd place in Robot Design for the innovation their robot invented and used as well as for the strategy the team followed.
72 teams from the following countries took part in the tournament: Austria, Estonia, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, Jordan, India, France, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Spain, Lebanon, Japan, USA, Nigeria, Slovenia, South Africa, Pakistan, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Montenegro, Morocco, Lithuania, Mexico, North Macedonia, Oman, Ukraine, Yemen, United Arab Emirates and Romania.
In addition, M-RAST was nominated for a cup by the judges in 4 out of the 9 categories and excelled in 6 out of the 9 categories. However, the competition regulations do not allow one team to receive more than one cup in the judges’ category, so they won 1 cup from the judges and 2 cups from the referees in Robot Game.
M-RAST consists of students:
Ε. Artopoios (7th Grade), G. Vlachonasios (7th Grade), Ι. Theodoridou (9th Grade), D. Kartsonakis (8th Grade), Α. Kolettas (6th Grade), Ch. Mytis (7th Grade), Α. Pantazis (6th Grade) and Κ. Papadopoulos (7th Grade). They were accompanied by their two coaches Petros Perlantidis - Papadopoulos and Apostolia Kalliakmani as well as the Schools’ Vice Principal, Mr. Dimitrios Kazakos.
It is worth noting that Greece has been participating in the world FLL competitions since 2013 and this was the first year a Greek team ranked amongst the top 3 in Robot Game or Robot Design. These important distinctions for Mandoulides Schools’ team are undoubtedly the result of hard effort, exhausting training, commitment and dedication to a common goal.
Before leaving for Lebanon, M-RAST had visited the President of the Hellenic Republic, following an invitation from the Presidency to the teams that would represent our country in FLL worldwide.
