For anyone who has never been to the Malta Robotics Olympiad before, tell us what the main purpose of the event is?
Like every edition of the MRO our main intention is to remove abstraction from the technology world and bring to the general public real-world implementation of digital design, robotics and other high-end digital research in a tangible way which everyone can see, feel, touch and experience first hand. Aside from this, we also always strive to better the event every year – from increasing the variety of technological exhibitors, expanding on the types of workshops to a continuous exercise of bettering logistics. The event sees over 18,000 visitors over three days.
This is the third year that the MRO is taking place at the MFCC. How has the event changed over the years?
The MRO started nine years ago in 2010 as a side event for a larger conference called EMBED. For five years this was a very small-scale event reserved for students and consisted of one competition. From 2014 there was a change in the organisational structure, and it was decided that the MRO would be a stand-alone event. In 2015, the event was opened to the public for one evening and attracted a total of 300 visitors. Since I took it over in 2015 the event kept growing exponentially every year and moved out of its legacy home at the Corradino Sports Complex to the MFCC in Ta’ Qali.
This was the biggest decision for the MRO that shaped its future, as we went from 400 square metres to organising a 6,000-square-metre event in just one year. MRO18 saw 16,500 visitors and over 600 students competing in the various events – this explains why from this year the event has changed its name from Malta Robotics Olympiad to MRO: Technology Expo.
What are your expectations for this year?
The MRO is now a collection of six major international events under one roof. The legacy competition which started the MRO in 2010 is still happening every year. This is the MRO Robo Sumo where robots, created and programmed by the students, fight in a tournament until one remains.
One of the newest competitions is the Malta Robo League which is aimed at a younger audience. This is by far the largest robotics single category competition in the world, with over 350 students taking part where they need to build a robot and present it at the event according to a theme set yearly by the MRO committee.
The event sees 18,000 visitors over three days
The DiY Bots is the smallest event at the MRO, which is open to the general public where they can build robots to achieve simple tasks. The E-Sports festival is quickly becoming the largest eSports competition on the island and we have big plans for the E-Sports Festival at the MRO, with over 30 international teams competing this year.
What about the new initiatives, particularly the Digital Careers Expo and the Gadgets Expo?
The Digital Careers expo area will present the largest digital industry recruitment agencies in one place under one roof. The idea behind it is to attract more teens, as well as to bridge the gap between primary digital education and digital recruitment. This is in line with the core MRO aims to bring together technology and the real world. Adding to this, we are also trying to branch out into the consumer digital world and for the first time, we are proud to introduce the Gadgets Expo as part of the MRO line-up.
The MRO tries every year to get a complete cross-sectional view of our digital world and the future of technology in our lives and I believe this year will also be a special year for the MRO in striving to represent all facets of technology.
Are there any specific new technologies that visitors at this year’s MRO should look out for?
Every year the MRO brings cutting-edge technologies such as home manufacturing, 3D printing, virtual reality, augmented reality, immersive gaming and home, educational and industrial robotics. This year we have upped the game by bringing together a lot of IoT technology, electric car technology and AI applications.
James Catania is Education Officer, Computing & ICT, at the Ministry of Education and Employment.
The Malta Robotics Olympiad will be held at the MFCC in Ta’ Qali on May 10, 11 and 12. For more information visit https://mromalta.com/.