Confident on the journey to conquer Stem and Robotics tournaments

Photo caption — Nguyen Minh Khoi participates in competitions. Photo: GĐCC

How did Minh Khoi develop such a passion and interest in robots? How did his family support him in pursuing his passion?

Since the age of 3, Minh Khoi has been especially interested in learning how things work - from toys to machines. No matter what he holds in his hands, he finds a way to take it apart and put it back together very quickly and accurately. At the age of 4, he began to enjoy listening to stories about inventions, asking all kinds of questions and starting to assemble models based on his imagination. Realizing that it was not a temporary curiosity, my husband and I decided to let him approach programming and technology early.

Luckily, the couple works in a field related to technology, so they researched and took their child to meet teachers. At first, they let the child go with the teachers, let him observe and have a specific picture of this field. Then, they let the child start to try to complete simple robots like windmill models, stimulating his interest in learning and studying.

After 3 months of "playing with robots", the teachers realized that the child really had passion and potential, so they suggested that the family let the child embark on a path of studying specialized robotics and participating in major tournaments to affirm his scientific and creative abilities.

Coach Nguyen Ngoc Tai, Minh Khoi's coach, shared: Minh Khoi is a very special case in the team of the past 2 years - the youngest, but one of the students with a high spirit of learning and discipline. From the first days of contact, Khoi showed outstanding thinking ability and a clear passion for robots. He did not hesitate to ask questions, always wanting to understand the principles behind each programming line. What is valuable is that despite being very young, Khoi never used the excuse "because he is young" to do less than others - on the contrary, he always tried harder to catch up and get in tune with the group. I am especially impressed with his team coordination skills: Listening, absorbing, knowing how to give in but also being very proactive in coming up with solutions. During the competitions, Khoi always kept his composure and was able to handle unexpected situations very quickly - something that even many older students had to admire. I think what makes Minh Khoi different is not only his mindset and discipline, but above all, his true love for technology and robots, along with the right support from his family. He is a special student, and I believe he will go even further if he continues to maintain his passion and learning spirit as he is now.

How meaningful is the robot to motivate Minh Khoi to study better and master robot technology, ma'am?

Learning Robotics helps children learn other subjects better, especially Math and English. When children program robots, they have to calculate very carefully from the smallest parameters, read documents and watch instructional videos in English to understand how the machine works. At that time, for children, learning is no longer a "must do" but like a very interesting game, so it is a motivation for them to study every day.

In addition, with this subject, my logical thinking and problem solving skills are trained and nurtured every day. Because in each new topic of the teacher, I think of solutions myself, then think of perfecting both hardware and software so that the robot can complete and perform its assigned tasks, like a step to help me get closer to the dream of creating real robots.

Minh Khoi is the youngest, but he has overcome the difficulty of age to confidently win high prizes in many competitions with his team. What made that success, ma'am?

The hardest part is not the technique, but the mentality. Khoi is still young, competing with seniors 2-3 years older, so at first he felt self-conscious. But thanks to the guidance of his teammates and teachers, he tried very hard to keep up with the rhythm and not affect his teammates by increasing his practice time and focusing more on training sessions with his teachers.

In November 2024, I went to Singapore alone to participate in the world finals of the Global Robotics Games with my team. It was a big challenge for a 6-year-old boy, but I overcame it and set a record for the tournament by winning two awards: First prize overall and Best Robot Programming. This was the first time in the history of the tournament.

How has your family supported you and has there been any anxiety?

In addition to preparing their children physically and encouraging them mentally, parents teach their children how to manage their time effectively and reasonably, especially when they are studying for exams and have a busy practice schedule. Parents always prioritize their children's health and spirit first. If we see that our children are stressed, we let them rest, play sports, or take them on picnics to regain balance.

Minh Khoi is still a boy who has just started 2nd grade, but he is very independent, highly conscious, and fortunately he is studying in a good environment, with teachers and friends who actively accompany him. That is what makes us believe that, although he is still young, he is brave enough to pursue his passion without losing his childhood.

Thank you for sharing!

Young but with great passion - Nguyen Minh Khoi, class 2A4, Hanoi Star Primary and Secondary School, has proven: With determination and a love for STEM and Robotics, he can confidently step out into the world, compete with children in many countries and excel in bringing home prestigious awards.

In the early days of August 2025, the ROBOTACON VIETNAM Team continuously received good news from the young man Minh Khoi in major competitions. Coming to the First Lego League Asia Open Championship 2025, taking place in Macao, Minh Khoi and the Pluto team competed with more than 420 teams from 21 countries and territories, including: China, Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil, Canada, Romania, Rwanda, Nigeria, France, Lithuania, Poland, Germany...

With the theme “Submerged”, contestants will participate in a journey to explore the ocean, learn about marine ecosystems and propose creative solutions for a green future.

Coming to the contest, the teams must compete in the following categories: building creative solutions using LEGO models, designing posters expressing ideas, presenting and directly debating before the international jury.

Competing with all their might, Minh Khoi and team Pluto won the “Team poster award” - an award honoring the team with the most impressive poster, with the requirement of demonstrating intelligence, creativity and the ability to convey ideas convincingly.

Previously, at the National Finals of the WRO - Global Robotics Games, Minh Khoi and team Pluto also excelled in the Top 4, successfully winning the right to represent Vietnam to attend the World Finals, held in Singapore. This is a brilliant milestone that Minh Khoi has achieved at the STEM Robotics ROBOTACON WRO 2025 playground - one of the largest technology competitions nationwide with the theme "The Future of Robots".

The competition gathered 1,235 contestants from 278 schools across the country, sharing the same aspiration to conquer the future with technology, creativity and solution thinking. To reach the Top 4, Minh Khoi and team Pluto surpassed 65 other teams, leaving their mark with their intelligence, courage and excellent team spirit. The children not only conquered the challenge of programming and designing robots, but also clearly demonstrated their understanding of how to apply robots to build a sustainable, intelligent and humane future.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/giao-duc/tu-tin-tren-hanh-trinh-chinh-phuc-nhung-giai-dau-stem-va-robotics-20251118182216683.htm