The three regional competitions of the FIRST Robotics Competition, which have been organized by the FIRST Foundation in the United States for 31 years and by the Fikret Yüksel Foundation in Turkey since 2018, have been completed in Istanbul in order to increase the interest of young people in the fields of science and technology. Near East University, GÜNSEL and Özay Günsel Children’s University were also represented in the competitions where the winners were entitled to participate in the World Championship to be held in Houston, USA on April 9-22.

This year’s theme of the FIRST Robotics Competition, in which high school teams from Turkey, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, India, Kosovo, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom compete with robots designed and produced, was energy. In the 2023 theme of the competition, the use of energy in increasingly complex industrial processes was emphasized, while the competitors were asked to complete the tasks given in a limited time by both autonomous and manually operated robots. With the competition theme, which was designed by considering the increasing rate of robotization in industrial processes and the battery limits of robots, it was aimed that the participants would encounter current problems at the high school age and adopt solution-oriented work.

Scholarship from Near East University, internship and job opportunity from GÜNSEL!
This year, Near East University is among the scholarship providers of the FIRST Robotics Competition. In this context, Near East University offers full scholarships in the field of engineering to students participating in competitions and events from different countries of the world, organized in cooperation with the Fikret Yüksel Foundation and FIRST Foundation, while GÜNSEL provides internship and job opportunities.

This year, a total of 153 teams from countries such as Bulgaria, China, Croatia, India, Kosovo, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom competed in the Turkish leg of the competition, in addition to over 120 local teams from 16 cities.

While Özay Günsel Children’s University General Secretary Duygu Kaptanoğlu Coşkun served as the Volunteer Coordinator, GÜNSEL Academy President Şefik Emre Coşkun served as the Jury Coordinator. In addition, they took part in the Planning Committee of the Fikret Yüksel Foundation and represented the Near East University, GÜNSEL and Özay Günsel Children’s University. Özay Günsel Children’s University Coordinator Fatma Hacıoğulları served as a referee in the competition. Özay Günsel Children’s University General Secretary Duygu Kaptanoğlu Coşkun was awarded the “2023 Volunteer of the Year” award after the event.