From Competition to Capability:
Aramco Innovation Award Immerses Winners in Seoul’s Advanced Industry
Young innovators from Costa Rica, Malaysia and Australia, winners of the 2025 Aramco Innovation Award at World Robot Olympiad (WRO) International Final,spend a week inside South Korea’s robotics and AI industry.
About the Aramco Innovation Award
The Aramco Innovation Award, presented in partnership with WRO, is an annual STEM prize recognising exceptional student-led robotics solutions from WRO’s Future Innovators category. Now in its second year, the award celebrates youth-driven innovation with real-world relevance, technical excellence, and social impact.
The award forms part of Aramco’s global strategic STEM commitment — a commitment that has reached over one million learners globally. For the top teams in WRO’s Future Innovators category, the prize was a full immersion week in Seoul where the winners experienced an inside look at facilities where some of the world’s most advanced robotics and AI are being built. This included a tour of Naver 1784 – the world’s first robot-friendly building, Doosan Robotics, Korea’s leading collaborative robot manufacturer and a visit to Korea University, Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
Meet the Teams
Team Sprout, Costa Rica
1st place, Future Innovators Senior, WRO 2025 International Final
Team members: Alanna Music, Emma Music, Joel Chen
Project: Sprout An intelligent, automated space greenhouse — designed to grow food in extreme environments.
“Our trip to Seoul represents an opportunity to connect two worlds — Costa Rica’s deep understanding of nature and South Korea’s leadership in technology. With our project Sprout, we are combining both, to design a smart greenhouse that can grow food in extreme environments, even beyond Earth. I’m most excited to see how Korea applies robotics and AI in real-world systems, and to bring that inspiration back to Costa Rica to keep building solutions that can have a global impact.” – Emma Music (16), Team Sprout, Costa Rica
Team SKYLUX, Malaysia
2nd place, Future Innovators Senior, WRO 2025 International Final
Team members: Elson Kieu Chee Yang, Fung Ashley, Tan Yi Xuan
Project: AlgaeVerse A robotic algae system designed to cool urban environments, capture carbon, and generate clean energy.
“For me, this trip to Seoul is a chance to step out of the classroom and see how innovation really happens. I’m especially looking forward to exploring robotics and AI up close, because it’s inspiring to see how technology is applied in the real world. I think these experiences will help us think more seriously about our future and connect back to our team’s goal of ‘doing nature’s work where nature can’t reach,’ so we can apply what we learn to create meaningful impact back home.”
– Fung Ashley (16), Team SKYLUX, Malaysia
The Simpsons, Australia
3rd place, Future Innovators Senior, WRO 2025 International Final
Team members: Christina Zhao, Harry Yu,
Mia Yu
Project: Marge 2.0 An AI-powered smart wheelchair designed to enhance independence for people with mobility challenges.
“Receiving the Aramco Innovation Award was incredibly inspiring and the trip to Seoul is a once in a lifetime experience. The opportunity to watch engineers at Doosan Robotics building the future of automation is an eye-opening experience no classroom can offer, and we’re extremely grateful.”
– Christina Zhao (16), The Simpsons, Australia
A Week Inside Seoul’s Robotics and AI Industry
Each year, the award takes a different form. This year, the Aramco Innovation Award prize was an immersive week in Seoul, South Korea. It was designed to connect classroom innovation to research and industry in one of the world’s most concentrated technology ecosystems.
Highlights from the trip:
Naver 1784
The world’s first robot-friendly building, serving as a large-scale testbed for advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and cloud technologies. The students, whose award-winning projects tackle real-world problems through robotics, encounter what the future looks like at scale.
Doosan Robotics – Korea’s leading collaborative robot manufacturer
The teams received hands-on training alongside engineers – moving from building robots in competition to working beside the people who build them professionally.
S-Oil TS&D Center – Aramco subsidiary
A workshop where the teams explore analytical laboratories and learn how chemical production processes power modern technology.
Korea University, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Home to the largest number of Aramco-sponsored students in Korea, and a top-100 global university. An academic visit that connects the teams to the research shaping the next generation of technology.
What They’re Saying
“These students spent months building solutions to real problems. Seoul is where they see problems being solved at scale — inside the buildings and research institutes where the next generation of robotics is being shaped. That kind of exposure changes how young people see themselves and what they see as possible.”
– Claus Ditlev Christensen, Secretary General, World Robot Olympiad Association
“Aramco has reached over one million learners globally through the advancement of STEM education and for the first time the Aramco Innovation Award has been extended to the top three winning teams. This award celebrates the next generation of pioneers and problem-solvers — and for us to witness what happens when imagination meets purpose and when curiosity is given the chance to lead.”
– Hussain Hanbazazah, Vice President of Communications, Operations & Corporate Citizenship, Aramco
About the Future Innovators Category
Future Innovators is a project-based challenge in which student teams build robotic solutions to real-world problems. In 2025, more than 5,700 teams across three age groups competed in the Future Innovators category.
About the World Robot Olympiad Association
World Robot Olympiad™ Association (WRO®) is a global non-profit that empowers over 175,000 young people across more than 100 countries through hands-on robotics challenges. The competition helps students develop creative problem-solving skills while fostering international collaboration and STEM leadership. Learn more: wro-association.org
About the Aramco Innovation Award
The Aramco Innovation Award, presented in partnership with WRO, is an annual STEM prize recognising exceptional student-led robotics solutions from WRO’s Future Innovators category. Now in its second year, the award celebrates youth-driven innovation with real-world relevance, technical excellence, and social impact.
Media enquiries: press@wro-association.org
