The robotics teams AICitizens from the Al. I. Cuza National College and BrickBot from the Unirea National College in Focsani have set a record for the highest score ever recorded worldwide in FIRST Tech Challenge competitions and qualified for the World Robotics Championship, which will take place in April in Houston, United States.

The result was achieved during the national stage of the FIRST Tech Challenge Romania competition, where the two teams formed an alliance and finished among the eight teams that will represent Romania at the world championship.

The Cyberlis team from the Ioan Slavici Theoretical High School in Panciu also took part in the national competition.

'This qualification represents not only the result of an entire season of work, but also the outcome of an entire community. Behind AICitizens stand generations of members and mentors, dedicated teachers, sponsors and local authorities who believed in us. For the team, this achievement is more than a qualification: it is proof that passion, work and community support can bring an entire city onto the global robotics stage. We also congratulate the BrickBot team, our alliance partners, who qualified for the World Championship in seventh place - a historic performance for our county! Congratulations also to the Cyberlis76 team from Panciu for their performance in the competition,' Irina Curca, a ninth-grade student at the Al. I. Cuza College in Focsani and head of the team's PR department, told AGERPRES.

Earlier, the Lego Land team from the Dimitrie Gusti Secondary School in Nereju had also qualified for the World Robotics Championship in the category dedicated to primary and lower secondary school students.

'AICitizens founded and mentored the Lego Land team from the Dimitrie Gusti Secondary School in Nereju, which participates in the FIRST LEGO League - Explore section, dedicated to primary and lower secondary school students. This year we invested a lot of time and energy in mentoring, guiding the younger students in discovering robotics, teamwork and creative thinking. Their work and enthusiasm, combined with our support, paid off: the team qualified for the World Championship,' Irina Curca said.

A total of 96 teams from across the country took part in the FIRST Tech Challenge Romania National Championship, season FIRST Tech Challenge DECODE 2026, divided into two divisions: Coanda and Vlaicu. Only four of them reached the competition's grand final, with the alliance of the two teams from Focsani proving successful.

'When 'Cuza chooses Unirea' and 'Unirea makes strength!' - in other words, when the teams of the two colleges form an alliance - nothing can stand in their way. On the global robotics map, Focsani has become a benchmark of professionalism, with two of the eight teams that will represent Romania in the final in Houston being AICitizens and BrickBot. 'Let us join hands' has become much more than a verse for these wonderful students,' representatives of the Unirea National College in Focsani said.

Each team played six matches in a single day, with the accumulated score determining the final ranking and qualification for the world stage.

Present at the competition, Vrancea County Council President Nicusor Halici praised the students' performance and underlined the importance of technological education.

'Watching them in action, I realised once again that the future is not something distant - it is being built right now by these brave and intelligent young people. Robotics means much more than a competition. It means innovation, collaboration, strategic thinking and the courage to create things that can change the world. I am proud of you and of the teachers who guide you, and I congratulate all the parents who support and make sacrifices so their children can become the pillars of tomorrow's Romania,' Nicusor Halici said.

Behind the performance achieved lie months of preparation, robot design and testing, as well as a great deal of passion for technology and teamwork, the teams' mentors say. Six more intense weeks of preparation now lie ahead before the World Championship.

In 2024, the AICitizens robotics team won the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championship held in Houston, United States. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Dana Lepadatu; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)