India, May 9th, 2022: Bangalore-based not-for-profit foundation, AI & Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK), concluded the 3rd edition of Codeavour 2021 powered by STEMpedia. The event kickstarted on October 20, 2021 with a live grand ceremony on YouTube, and concluded on Feb 10, 2022. It aimed to motivate students from age 7 to 18 years old by offering them a chance to create innovative AI projects using their awesome AI and coding skills and thus make the world a better place for the generations to come. The key objective of the competition is to develop critical thinking, creativity, collaboration & communication – the four C’s of the 21st-century skills through a hands-on project building approach. This is part of a larger objective of ARTPARK to enable a robust AI & Robotics community not just in India, but across the globe.
A total of 69525 teams of students from 68 countries participated in the competition, individually and in a group of two, under three age categories: Elementary (7-10 years), Junior (11-14 years), and Senior (15-18 years). The themes of this edition were Strengthen the Health Infrastructure, Automate the Surroundings, Smart Transportation Systems, Entertain the World, Save the Environment and Explore the Outer World.
Some of the key dignitaries included Asha Jadeja Motwani (Founder, Motwani Jadeja Foundation, USA); Umakant Soni (Co-founder & CEO, ARTPARK, India), Pankaj Kumar Verma (Co-founder & CTO, STEMpedia), Dr. Wendy Muhlhauser (Founder|Author|Educator, USA) and Sally Kimangu (CEO, Destination Imagination in Africa).
Commenting on the challenge, Mr. Umakant Soni, CEO & Co-Founder, ARTPARK, said, “Learning to learn and learning to create are going to be the two most crucial future skills that would be rewarded in the upcoming AI driven experience economy, complementing the knowledge economy. Codeavour is one such attempt to inculcate these two important attributes in our kids, so that they are ready to not just survive but thrive in this evolving AI decade. We are overwhelmed to see such a great response from students across the world. The kind of projects that we received reaffirms our belief that every child is different and has the potential to change the world for good by creating something new. ARTPARK, in association with STEMpedia, will continue to host such competitions for our young generation and motivate them to create the world that they desire.”
USA-based investor and philanthropist, Mrs. Asha Jadeja, Founder, MJF & Title Sponsor of Codeavour 2021, highlighted the importance of experiential learning-based projects. In her own words, “Codeavour is giving the critical escape velocity to so many young people, energizing them, inspiring them and providing them access to Angel Investors like me and many others. Evidence clearly shows that learning is deeper and more exciting for children when teaching is done through a project-based approach,”
Codeavour 2021 recorded academic partnerships from 607 schools from 17+ countries, of which 548 were from India alone. Countries like India, Indonesia, Arab Emirates, Palestine, Singapore, South Korea, and Malaysia, among others, recorded the highest participation. 55 training partners and 15 community partners were onboarded for this event. 20+ free AI and Coding Bootcamps and 150+ doubt sessions were also organized online and offline to teach AI & ML concepts and guide students and teachers about the registration procedure.
The competition saw more than 80 winners from 16 countries, of which 38 hailed from India, 9 from Palestine, 7 from Jordan, 6 from Egypt, and 3 from South Africa, Syria, and UAE. There were winners from other countries too, including Iraq, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria and the USA. The top winners from different categories include Arjun Venkataramanan Gayathri, India, from the team The Warrior Hero, 7-10 years (Dector), Abdulrahman Sataa, Iraq, 11-14 years (Pictolbox), and Samriddhi Kori, India, from team SMILE, 15-18 years (sMile). 80+ exciting prizes like laptops, tablets, scholarships & coupons, and AI & Robotic kits, among others, worth $15,000, were distributed to the winners.
During the closing ceremony, students and educators shared their experiences. Arjun said, “The competition helped me improve my Robotics and Programming skills”. Samriddhi, another participant said, “Codeavour helped us find our inner strength while also igniting the fire within us to make our dreams into ambition. We were able to solve complex problems in smart ways which enhanced our critical thinking skills.”
ARTPARK has also created ARTPARK Robotics challenge 2021, where it is working with college students to solve the sanitation problem of public toilets. The finale of this challenge is concluding on 14th May, 2022 at JN Tata auditorium at IISc campus.