ABU DHABI // Local teams swept almost all the prizes in the Green City category at the World Robot Olympiad yesterday.
Mahmoud Elwakil and Abdullah Alkubassi leapt from their seats cheering when their team name appeared in gold letters on monitors.
The pupils from Zayed Al Awwal Secondary School in Al Ain took first place in the "green city: secondary school" category at the contest held at Adnec. Their robot had to complete different missions including putting a solar panel on a roof.
"We didn't know we would win, but we hoped so because we worked very hard for two months," said Mahmoud, of Egypt.
The three-day contest, which attracted 1,500 students from 34 countries, was split into four categories across three age groups: elementary, junior high and secondary school pupils competed in Green City, Football, Regular and Open challenges.
The theme for the eighth annual competition was "Robots for life improvement". In the Open category, another UAE team took the top prize for developing a robotic prosthetic arm and leg, designed for amputees.
"We thought, 'Why not create something that will help people get on their feet?'," said Athul Manojkumar, 16, a pupil from Our Own High School in Dubai who has worked in robotics for three years. "We took it to the next level and did an arm."
Athul's and his teammates, Farhaan Feroz and Richard Francis, spent 300 hours constructing their human-sized robotic parts.
Kerry Bailey, the curriculum consultant for Abu Dhabi Education Council and one of the organisers of the event, said he was impressed by how far UAE competitors had come in the three years since the country first entered the challenge.
"Let's put it this way. In 2009, nationally, we had 31 teams," Mr Bailey said. "In 2010, we had 130. This year, we had 602. I think that means we've been successful."
The robotics programme in schools is aimed at preparing students, particularly Emiratis, for future careers in the engineering, semiconductor and aviation industries.
"But for the kids, first of all, it's about fun," Mr Bailey added.
For Mohammed Hameed, an 18-year-old student from Zayed Al Awwal, playing with robots in class may turn into a lifetime love. "Next year, I will go to college to be an engineer, and I will study technology because this is the future," he said.
jthomas@thenational.ae
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How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
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FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
