A robotics team from Paphos has become the first from the region to win Cyprus’s national robotics championship, earning the right to represent the country at the FIRST Championship in Houston, Texas, later this month.
The team from Lumio Private School won the 5th Pancyprian Robotics Competition Robotic Day & FIRST Tech Challenge Cyprus 2026, held on March 7 and 8. The national title had previously been won exclusively by teams from Nicosia.
The FIRST Championship, held at the end of April in Houston, is one of the world’s largest robotics events, drawing more than 50,000 participants and spectators from over 70 countries annually.
Lumio Private School, a non-profit institution, opened in Paphos in 2024. The school is currently a candidate for authorisation for International Baccalaureate programmes.
The victory builds on the team’s performance last season, when they received the Connect Award for community contribution and earned an invitation to the European Championship in the Netherlands, where they became the first Cypriot team in history to reach the playoff stage of an international robotics tournament.
The team said the Houston trip would provide valuable international experience to be used in developing the STEM community.
