Syrian Refugee Robotics Engineers Bring Hope To The Country

Damascus: The Hope Of Syria robotics team, composed entirely of refugee students, advanced to an international competition.

After more than five years of brutal conflict, Hope of Syria, a young team of robot engineers is eager to help shoulder the responsibility of rebuilding their country.

The team, composed entirely of Syrian refugee students, recently won a national robotics competition in Lebanon, when their robot, SYR01, managed to shoot the most balls into a net. They competed in the Vex world robotics competition on April 20 in the US state of Kentucky, coming up against some 450 other teams from around the world. Although they couldn’t win, they inspired millions of people.

While winning the tournament was their first priority, team member Amjad al-Homsi, 17, said they also want to draw attention to the plight of Syrians. Homsi, the team’s engineering network manager, who is originally from Damascus, said that when he returns to Syria, he wants to continue in this field, working in mechatronics, which combines mechanical, computer and electrical engineering. Fatima al-Soki, 16, one of the team’s programmers, is also hoping to turn this into a career. Mohammad al-Hasan, who directs the Continuing Education and Community Service Programme at MAPs, a Lebanese NGO catering to Syrian refugees, is passionate about inculcating this sense of optimism in students about a shared future back in Syria. Hope of Syria’s team captain, 19-year-old Daraya native Mohammed al-Khoshfeh, has been interested in robotics for year. Hope of Syria came about as part of a robotics class offered by Hasan’s programme.

Thousands of Syrian children in Lebanon do not attend school, sometimes due to the expense of transportation or school books, but also because parents often rely on the income that their children can earn.

Had Hope of Syria won in Kentucky, the prize would have been dedicated to all Syrian refugees around the world, said 17-year-old team member Abdul Rahman Mawas. But nevertheless, the feat they achieved amidst so much turmoil is highly revolutionary and inspiring.