OMOTEC Teams Triumph at FIRST® Tech Challenge Asia Pacific Open Championship (APOC) in Australia

Mumbai: OMOTEC (On My Own Technology), a leading name in technical education, proudly announces the success of its teams at the FTC Asia Pacific Open Championship (APOC) 2024 in Australia. The teams, Mad Engineers and GForce have achieved remarkable success, demonstrating OMOTEC’s Excellence in Robotics and STEM Education under the mentorship of Avneet Singh, Gaurav Berwal, and student mentors Siddharth Jain and Jayveer Kochhar.

The teams built a 20 kg robot each with dimensions of 18x18x18 inches to solve the International Game Challenge called CENTERSTAGE. Team Mad Engineers, led by Captain Divya and team members Vivaan, Aryan, Siddharth, Jahaan, Kavish, Ishaan, Aarav, and Amritraj, won two prestigious awards: the INSPIRE Award Rank 2, the highest award given to the role model design, and the THINK Award. Team GForce, led by Captain Rahi and team members Rithvik, Viivaan Patel, Drish, Akshaya, Hriday, Suramrit, Neev, Rahi, and Anagha, won three awards: the Judges' Choice Award, the Promote Award, and the Winning Finalist Alliance Award for their excellent robot run performance in the game challenge and using STEM knowledge for research and to solve real-world problems.

An important part of the judging criteria at FTC APOC was the CSR initiatives undertaken by the teams. Mad Engineers mentor Signal Stars, a group of talented students from Signal Shala in Thane, Maharashtra, dedicated to educating children from the denotified tribes. Team GForce mentored Team Dharavi Dynamites since the past 5 years, providing coding and AI skills training along with monetary support, thus giving them the necessary skill set for future endeavors and bot creation. Mad Engineers and Team GForce teams have successfully raised funds to set up STEM Labs to promote hands-on learning and community impact through technology. Signal Stars and Dharavi Dynamites have also participated in the FTC Nationals held in India, where the winning teams are chosen to represent the country in the international finals. This exposure to STEM not only impacts the individual teams but also marks a mindset shift in their respective communities toward potential careers in the future. OMOTEC supports these activities, reinforcing its commitment to fostering educational opportunities and technological advancements for underprivileged communities.

Reetu Jain and Shekhar Jain, Co-founders of OMOTEC, expressed their pride saying, "At OMOTEC, we strive to provide our students with the highest levels of technology education. Through hands-on exposure to robotic construction, coding, machine learning, and more, our students gain invaluable skills and insights. Competing against teams from the US, Australia, and other tech-advanced countries is incredibly valuable for our students. This international exposure broadens their horizons, fuels their ambition, and allows them to explore and experiment.  We guide them in making informed and progressive career choices in the ever-evolving world of technology."

OMOTEC was formed in 2016 by Shekhar Avinash Jain and Reetu Shekhar Jain. It is a dynamic, innovative research lab that brings STEAM learning to students of all age groups. OMOTEC’s curriculum is based on the idea of seamlessly integrating learning based on real-world applications. The classes are a mix of educational and experiential learning designed to spark creativity and prepare children for a technology-driven future. They also offer a wide range of stimulating, educational, and fun robotics and electronics programs for young minds ranging from 1st to 10th grade, as well as for students from graduate schools and engineering colleges.