Two Indian students persisted with their firefighting robot after missing out at a national robotics competition in 2024. Two years later, they have won international recognition.
VADODARA, October 28, 2026 – Jayvardhan Israni and Jainil Patel from Vadodara, Gujarat, have been selected as one of the four winning teams in the World Robot Olympiad™ (WRO®) STEM Entrepreneur Program. They developed a robotic firefighting system designed to detect and respond to fires while reducing the need for people to enter hazardous environments.
The WRO STEM Entrepreneur Program, powered by Aramco, is a new initiative to bridge the gap between STEM education and entrepreneurship by giving students the opportunity to defend how their technologies work, why they matter, and how they would take their solutions from the competition arena to the market with the objective of solving real-world challenges.
Competing as team Navrachana Vidyani from Navrachana Vidyani Vidyalaya, the students developed Pralay Shamak, an autonomous firefighting robot. They were inspired by observing fire damage and speaking with firefighting teams about the challenges responders face.
The young innovators initially developed their firefighting system for the World Robot Olympiad in India in 2024. Although it did not win, they continued working on the design. They built a substantial mobile robot, cutting, bending, drilling and welding the metal structure before integrating motors, cameras, sensors and control systems.
Two years later, they brought the further-developed Pralay Shamak to the WRO STEM Entrepreneur Program in Hyderabad.
Pralay Shamak is part of a three-stage firefighting system. Pralay Suchak (”Disaster”) is designed to identify potential fires, Pralay Shamak (“Disaster Suppressor”) locates and approaches them to attempt initial suppression, and Anuj (“younger brother”) supports smoke management and visibility. The system can operate autonomously or under manual control.
The goal is not to replace firefighters, but to provide early information and an initial response while minimizing the need for humans to immediately enter hazardous environments. The system’s development has been informed by conversations with local firefighting teams, fire-safety professionals, engineers and other experts.
In Hyderabad, Navrachana Vidyani presented the project to entrepreneurs, investors and industry professionals as part of the WRO STEM Entrepreneur Program. 22 student teams from 13 countries took part, pitching both the technical and practical value of robotics projects developed through WRO’s Future Innovators competition.
“We first saw Pralay Shamak in our national WRO competition in 2024. Seeing Jayvardhan and Jainil continue developing the project and take it to this level two years later shows the kind of learning journey we want WRO to create for young innovators in India,” said Sudhanshu Sharma, Founder and CEO of the India STEM Foundation, the National Organizer of WRO in India.
The Indian students were selected as one of the four equal winning teams, alongside teams from Italy, the Philippines and South Korea. Each winning team receives a $5,000 award and six months of mentoring from industry experts, including investment professionals from Aramco Ventures, the global venturing arm of Aramco, as well as experts from India STEM Foundation and WRO, to help further develop their projects.
“We first developed the project for WRO in 2024. While we didn’t win, we received the Best Technical Solution award, which gave us confidence in our idea and motivated us to keep working on it. We continued refining the system based on the feedback and inputs we received. That journey has now taken us from the national competition to representing India internationally and winning support to develop the project further,” said Jainil Patel, Navrachana Vidyani.
The WRO STEM Entrepreneur Program, powered by strategic partner Aramco, bridges STEM education and entrepreneurship by challenging young people to explain not just how their technology works, but why it matters and how it can evolve beyond the competition.
“At Aramco, we believe the future lies in empowering young people. Our STEM Education Global Program enables students to understand science and technology and use it to create, build, and solve. Our strategic partnership with WRO continues to expand, allowing students to take their ideas outside of the classroom, from ideation and prototyping to execution and real-world innovation,” said Hadeel Al-Eisa, Aramco Corporate Citizenship Manager.
Following the inaugural event in Hyderabad, WRO plans to bring the STEM Entrepreneur Program format to National Organizers around the world.
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About the WRO STEM Entrepreneur Program
The WRO STEM Entrepreneur Program is a new program launched as a result of a strategic partnership between Aramco and WRO. It combines robotics, innovation, and entrepreneurship by challenging student teams to present both the technical and practical value of their solutions to a panel of industry professionals. The international event took place in Hyderabad, India, on September 28, 2026. It brought together 22 teams from 13 countries: Ghana, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Africa, and Uganda.
About the World Robot Olympiad Association
World Robot Olympiad™ Association (WRO®) is a global non-profit that engages 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.
Media Contact
For media enquiries regarding this release, please contact press@wro-association.org
