Six students from Itagui are set to represent Colombia in Robojam, the biggest robotics competition in Latin America. The competition, set to take place in Mexico, will see six ninth grade students from Itagui’s Maria Jesus Mejia Educational Institution travel alongside children and teenagers from other schools to compete against each other.
The students are members of the school’s robotics program and qualified for the international contest after an outstanding showing at Robojam Colombia, hosted at The Columbus School.
At the national robotics competition, the Itagui team took first and third place in the Path Attack Pro category. They competed against 30 teams from across the country. The municipal administration said, “This category challenges participants to design and program a robot capable of traversing a circuit of 10 hexagons with precision and speed without leaving the track.”
Itagui is proud of Colombia’s representatives at Robojam
The city said it is proud. This is the second group from Itagui to represent the municipality in national and international competitions this year. Recently, four students and two teachers from another public school won third place at the International Youth Robotics Competition (IYRC) in South Korea, one of the world’s most prestigious educational robotics tournaments.
According to local newspaper El Colombiano, Student Emmanuel Benitez, who will travel to Mexico, said his work with robotics this school year has helped him strengthen teamwork, communication, and computational skills. He added that he hopes the robotics programs continue and become more firmly established at his school and in the municipality.
🇲🇽👏🏻 ¡Talento itagüiseño que traspasa fronteras!
Seis estudiantes de la I. E. María Jesús Mejía viajarán a Michoacán, México, con todos los gastos pagos por la Administración Municipal, para representar a nuestra ciudad en el concurso internacional de robótica RoboJam LATAM.… pic.twitter.com/8iilPuOK4c
— Alcaldía de Itagüí (@AlcaldiaItagui) September 16, 2025
During 2025, 10 students from Itagui private schools have participated in these academic and technological events. All robotics events have been sponsored by the municipal government which stresses the local education model mandates a STEM+ focus, innovation, and technology.
Itagui’s Mayor’s Office has celebrated this success
Itagui Mayor Diego Torres said: “This achievement highlights the positive impact of the strategies implemented in our city, and evidences the commitment of teachers, students and the administration to models and approaches such as STEM, as well as initiatives like Tecnoacademia and CityLab, which bring our children and young people closer to science, technology, and innovation.”
Colombia’s representatives at Robojam will participate in additional categories to Path Attack Pro. They will also participate in Skill Drive challenges teams to use a radio-controlled robot to transport an object from point A to point B without leaving the line, as well as the Bumperbot category, which requires a robot to remove 10 obstacles from a track within 2 minutes without leaving the course.
The students arrived yesterday, Sept. 16, 2025, to Michoacan, Mexico, host of Robojam Latam.