We’re sharing stories from our global community. Real accounts of how robotics and WRO® have helped shape the lives of students, coaches, and mentors. This one is about Emilio López Bouchan’s journey from being a participant to keeping WRO alive while the world shut down
When Emilio López Bouchan was a kid he dreamed of seeing the world, but his family couldn’t afford it. So when he heard that winning the national finals of the World Robot Olympiad (WRO©) meant a paid trip abroad, he jumped at the opportunity – and into a RoboMission team that needed one more member. He started out confident.
“I was good, but I didn’t have the experience to become a national champion,” he says. “It wasn’t until WRO that I realised: talent isn’t enough. You need discipline and dedication to achieve your goals.”
That realisation changed everything. It would shape not only Emilio’s own life but also the path of WRO Mexico and the many kids he became a mentor to.
Teaching commitment and resilience
At 19, Emilio returned to his old school as a WRO coach. Being young, he was assigned to the elementary kids. Saturdays became all-day practice marathons, from nine to five, with attention spans stretched and patience tested.
“I developed a big brother relationship with these kids and saw that this was a unique opportunity,” he says. “To teach the very basics of robotics and computer science to the kids and be part of their development.”
He focused as much on emotional coaching as on technical skills. It wasn’t all about winning – the students also needed to learn how to lose, as emotions can run high at competitions, not least in Mexico.
Emilio never qualified for an international final as a participant, but with his students, he finally made it there. Within a few years, his teams were competing internationally, from Costa Rica to Hungary.
Keeping WRO alive while the world shut down
When the pandemic shut down events worldwide in 2020, WRO Mexico was also about to go silent. Emilio, stuck at home like everyone else, wanted to give the kids a reason to continue practicing. With no budget, no organiser support and no guidebook, he built a new kind of national competition — asynchronous and online. He wrote the rules, created the scoring system, and asked the coaches he knew if they wanted to join. They all said yes.
Around 30 teams participated, sending in videos of their challenges filmed in their living rooms. It wasn’t huge, but his initiative became the bridge that kept young minds engaged until in-person events could return.
Shaping a professional career
Emilio’s WRO journey has taken him from participant to coach and organiser. And finally, in 2022, to international judge. He joined the RoboMission judging panel, first online and later in person at the finals in Germany, Panama and Turkey.
Having fulfilled his childhood dream of travelling the world, Emilio now sticks to judging locally, as he is currently focused on his professional path as a software developer at Stori, one of Mexico’s leading fintech companies. He aims to move into management and apply the leadership skills honed through years of coaching and judging.
“WRO taught me that dedication and investing yourself is what really matters,” he says. “Success isn’t just having a good job or making good money – it’s being able to achieve what you set out to do.”
Emilio López Bouchan profile:
Age: 29
Role in WRO: Participant 2014-2015, Coach 2016-2019, Organizer & International Judge 2020-2024
Current work: Software Developer at Stori, a fintech company developing a digital financial platform for Mexico’s underserved population.
Fun Fact / Standout: After high school, Emilio tried culinary school for 3-4 months. Standing in a hot kitchen for 12 hours a day wasn’t his cup of tea, but to this day he cooks everything himself.
