Team 22222 Robobober from Lumio Private School has achieved an historic milestone, securing 3rd Place in the Sustain Award category at the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship, held in Houston, Texas from 29 April to 2 May 2026.
The FIRST Championship is one of the world’s largest robotics events, featuring 20,000 participants from more than 60 countries. Team Robobober represented Cyprus after being crowned overall winners at the national FIRST Tech Challenge Cyprus Championship in March.
Their participation marked a significant moment for the country, as they became the first team from outside the capital region to represent Cyprus at this level of international competition.
Over four days, the team successfully completed technical inspections, competed in a series of matches, presented their engineering solutions, and took part in judging interviews, while also showcasing elements of Cypriot culture.
Their efforts were recognised with 3rd Place in the Sustain Award, a prestigious honour that celebrates teams demonstrating long-term vision, strong community engagement, and a commitment to building a sustainable and enduring robotics programme. Judges commended the team’s work in promoting STEAM education within their school and across the Paphos region.
This achievement represents one of the highest levels of recognition attained by a Cypriot team at the FIRST Championship since the country began participating in 2019.
“This success would not have been possible without the full support of our school, our dedicated parent community and Lumio staff . We would also like to thank our sponsors, JetBrains Foundation and CoValere for assisting with the trip finances,” the team said.
Looking ahead, 22222 Robobober plans to continue developing robotics initiatives in Cyprus and hopes their success will inspire the growth of new teams across the region.
