The association for the people and businesses of Sheffield's digital industries.

talent 23, a year of talent and skills

a year of talent and skills

SDP 23: From Sheffield to Shanghai with the UK’s first World Educational Robot Contest finalists

This is a very special episode of the Sheffield Digital podcast because Chris sat down with the Sheffield children (and their parents) who have won a place in the finals of the World Educational Robot Contest, which takes place in Shanghai next month.

It’s an incredible achievement for these kids who are the first to represent the UK in the world finals. It’s amazing to hear them talk to so passionately about their work and the project too.

Having won their spot at the finals, they have been busy trying to crowdfund the financial support they need to Shanghai. Thankfully, enough people have given generously and the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) helped get them over the crowdfunding line.

However, a second crowdfunding campaign to get the parents to Shanghai also needed some help. We think it’s such a fantastic achievement and so important to support Sheffield’s talented tech kids that Sheffield Digital contributed to tip that crowdfunding over its threshold.

There is one more thing the children need help with and that’s some design work on a banner and presentation that they can use in Shanghai. We’d love someone from the Sheffield digital community to step in, if possible.

If you’d like to offer your services (for free) then please get in touch. You can email info@sheffield.digital and we’ll put you in touch.

The finalists (and their parents)

As you’ll hear on the podcast, the kids and their parents introduce themselves, but here is a full list of this talented team of young tech stars, including their parents.

  • Alexander (Alex) O’Carroll (7) and parents Liz and Nick O’Carroll
  • Allen Yung (7) and mum Wenn Lin
  • Kirin Harrington (11) and mum Kully Gill
  • Jacob Sibanda (12) and dad Lunghani Sibanda
  • Ruby Barrett (12) and dad Paul Barrett
  • Sophia Houton, (7) part of the team but not travelling to Shanghai

Notes and links

Every episode comes with a list of links to all of the various people, companies and topics that we reference. Here is that list for episode 23.

Did I miss something you’re looking for? Just get in touch and let me know.

Join the conversation

We’re really keen to get your feedback on the podcast. You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter or on the channel in the Sheffield Digital Slack community.

Thank you for the music

Thanks again to Alex Mclean – aka Yaxu – for the show’s intro music, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.