13-year-old’s fruit-picking robotic beats the world’s greatest as two extra Ugandan innovators earn international honours
Uganda has gained a Gold Medal at the 2026 International Greenwich Olympiad (IGO), a global platform for student-led analysis and interdisciplinary competitors, spanning each scientific and inventive disciplines, held in London, United Kingdom.
Roshan Aitham Karoobi, a Senior One pupil at Light Academy Secondary School in Entebbe, topped the STEM Lesson Presentation class for his challenge, Physics in Action: How a Fruit-Picking Robot Uses Newton’s Laws of Motion.
Two different younger Ugandan innovators, Luke Oz Governor Mukulembeze (12, Grade 7) and Israel Mbonye (14, Grade 7), each of Shekinah International School in Entebbe, additionally did the nation proud in London, incomes an Honourable Mention for his or her joint Engineering challenge, Implementing and Designing a Low-Cost Sustainable Farming Solution for Uganda.
All three college students competed beneath the African School of Innovations Science and Technology (ASIST) Ltd, by way of its flagship programme, Young Engineers Uganda.
“When Roshan first showed me his idea for a robot that could pick fruit using the same physics we learn in class, I knew he had something special,” stated Monica Arinaitwe, Roshan’s Coach. “He spent six months building, testing and rebuilding that robot. Watching him stand on that stage in London and receive gold was one of the proudest moments of my career as an educator.”
The Gold Medal Project
Roshan’s profitable challenge addressed an issue acquainted to Uganda’s farmers: labour shortages, time-consuming and repetitive harvesting work, excessive labour prices, and the share of each harvest misplaced to waste. His challenge confirmed how a fruit-picking robotic, designed round Newton’s Laws of Motion, may ease that burden, talking on to UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and Goal 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure).
Roshan, who began the challenge at the starting of the yr, competed as a person entrant in opposition to college students from throughout the world.
“I wanted to build something that could actually help farmers back home, not just something for a science fair,” Roshan stated. “Seeing my country’s flag next to the word ‘Gold’ is something I’ll never forget. I hope other young Ugandans watching this know that you don’t need to be from a big country to win , you just need an idea and people who believe in you.”
The Honourable Mention Project
Luke and Israel’s challenge, entered in the Engineering class, is an automatic greenhouse constructed on Arduino-based monitoring and management, with computerized irrigation and reside monitoring of temperature and humidity , a sensible, low-cost reply to sustainable farming in Uganda.
“Our project was inspired by the challenges farmers face in Uganda. We wanted to show that innovation and technology can help improve agricultural productivity, food security, and livelihoods. My participation in IGO motivates me to keep developing solutions that create real impact,” Said Israel!
“We believe every community deserves access to clean and safe water. Our project demonstrates how science and innovation can contribute to better health, environmental sustainability, and food security. This recognition encourages us to continue using STEM to solve global challenges.” Said Luke!
“These two boys are barely into secondary school, but they think like engineers twice their age,” stated Mr Allan Mugarura, their coach, who mentored Luke and Israel by way of six months of prototyping. “They rebuilt that irrigation system more times than I can count until it worked exactly as they wanted. An Honourable Mention at IGO, at their age, on their first attempt, tells you everything about where Uganda’s next generation of engineers is headed.”
A Global Stage
IGO is a global platform for student-led analysis and interdisciplinary competitors,spanning each scientific and inventive disciplines, organised and hosted by North London Grammar School in the United Kingdom, bringing collectively younger innovators from round the world to have a good time innovation,
creativity, collaboration, and youth-led options addressing real-world challenges by way of
the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This yr’s version drew 362 members from 53 international locations, chosen from greater than 1000 registered members worldwide. Gold medals have been awarded to the single greatest challenge in every competitors class, that means Roshan’s win positioned him forward of each different entrant in his class!
What This Means for Uganda
Uganda’s gold at IGO 2026 provides to a fast-growing file of worldwide outcomes for ASIST / Young Engineers Uganda, a Kampala-based STEM and robotics schooling organisation based in 2015 by journalist Dr. Arinaitwe Rugyendo.
ASIST-trained college students have represented Africa for 4 consecutive years at the VEX Robotics World Championship in Dallas and St Louis, USA. ASIST has set a file efficiency at the Pan-African Robotics Competition in Dakar, Senegal for the final three years profitable 2nd place on the continent, was topped World Champion ( Gold medalists) at The Enjoy AI 2024 Global Final in Shanghai, China and certified Team HYDRO SAPIENS for the 2026 MATE ROV Underwater Robotics World Championship in Newfoundland and Labrador , Canada, making Uganda one in all solely two African international locations to qualify to compete!
“This Gold Medal at IGO is proof of what we have believed since we started this organisation eleven years ago , that a Ugandan child, given the right mentorship and the right opportunity, can stand toe to toe with the best young minds anywhere in the world,” stated Maureen Ayebare Karamagi, IGO Team Leader / CEO of ASIST / Young Engineers Uganda. “Roshan’s win in London is not just his. It belongs to every parent who drove their child to a Saturday robotics class or paid for their Robotics class in their school, every teacher who stayed late to help debug a project, and every Ugandan who still believes our young people can compete and win on the world stage.”
“Getting three students from Uganda onto a stage in London takes a lot more than a good idea , it takes logistics, fundraising, paperwork and a team that refuses to let any detail slip,” stated Caroline Kapere Tusiimire , COO of ASIST / Young Engineers Uganda. “I’m proud of how far our students have come, and prouder still of how many more are coming up behind them. This is only the beginning of Uganda’s story at competitions like IGO.”
Looking Ahead
ASIST says it should proceed to scout and mentor younger innovators by way of its nationwide programmes, with the intention of sending extra Ugandan college students to worldwide science and robotics competitions in the years forward.
About ASIST / Young Engineers Uganda
The African School of Innovations Science and Technology (ASIST) Ltd is Uganda’s main STEM and robotics schooling organisation, based in 2015. Through its flagship programme, Young Engineers Uganda, a part of a worldwide STEM enrichment programme based in Israel in 2008 and now lively in over 70 international locations , ASIST equips Ugandan youngsters aged 4 to 21 with hands-on expertise in robotics, coding, engineering and utilized science.
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