UzhNU Hosts First Robotics Competition for Children and Youth

On May 16–17, the Faculty of Information Technology at Uzhhorod National University is hosting its first open robotics competition for children and teenagers from across Zakarpattia.

The competition was opened by Myroslava Lendiel, Vice Rector for Scientific and Pedagogical Work at UzhNU: “You are doing a great job by participating in this competition. We understand that it’s May, and you’re already looking forward to relaxing—school is almost over. But when you spend this time doing something interesting and learning new things, that’s wonderful. We are very happy that you have visited our university and are participating in such events. Each of you is already a winner. Not because you will receive gifts, but because you will gain new knowledge, new experiences, and new friends. I am confident that these competitions will become a tradition; perhaps they will become nationwide, or even international. And I am sure that you will visit us again in a year. We wish you a great time, good competition, and the chance to show everything you know,” noted Ms. Myroslava.

Ihor Povkhan, Dean of the Faculty of Information Technologies at UzhNU, also welcomed the participants: “Dear participants, we are all very happy to see you here. I want to wish you all to show everything you can, achieve the best results, and showcase your strongest and best qualities. Thank you for choosing to be here with us today.”

According to the competition organizer, Oleksandr Levchuk, head of the Department of Information Management Systems and Technologies, preparations took about a year. “We came up with various ways to make this happen,” he noted at the opening. “I hope this will give the children the opportunity to reveal all their talents so that, perhaps in the future, they can study at our faculty.”

In 2026, the Faculty of Information Technologies at UzhNU announced its first enrollment for the “Computer Technologies” educational program with a specialization in robotics. The young participants were thus able to see their potential future with their own eyes—the university, the program, and the faculty.

The event program was designed to engage children of various ages and skill levels. The youngest participants—ages 6–8—tried their hand at workshops using the Lego WeDo platform. For older participants, aged 8–15, team competitions were held using Lego Spike and Lego Mindstorms EV3, where robots had to independently complete technical missions or find their way out of a maze. The oldest participants—up to 21 years old—competed on the Arduino UNO platform with the same maze task, but one that was significantly more complex.

The event was supported by sponsors: the manufacturing company Jabil Circuit Ukraine Limited LLC, the IT company PettersonApps, and the robotics club “RoiK.” Their participation made it possible to hold the competition at a high technical level and provide participants with the necessary equipment.

The competition will be a great opportunity for students to prove themselves, gain new experience, and be inspired to continue studying engineering and programming.

• Faculty of Information Technologies