A number of budding young robotics engineers came together for Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollenhu's presentation

Bandar Seri Begawan - A number of budding young robotics engineers came together at the Atrium of the Airport Mall yesterday as Dr Ashitey Trebi-Ollenhu, a member of the Mars Exploration Rover Operations Team of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of America, conducted his greatly anticipated presentation at Ihtifal TAIB, Perbadanan Tabung Amanah Islam Brunei's (TAIB) latest annual initiative.

Dr Ashitey's presentation started off with a personalised New Year's greeting from the Curiosity Rover, fifty million miles away on planet Mars, before he delivered a short introduction on the Curiosity Rover, Spirit and Opportunity Rovers, and the Phoenix Mars Lander. In addition to his presentation, Dr Ashitey also talked briefly on how the ideas were initially conceptualised; how they were developed; launches and landings; their respective operations on Mars; and updates on their current missions.

Assisted by two child volunteers and a standard Lego Mindstorm kit, Dr Ashitey proved how easy it is to build and program your first basic robot in less than 30 minutes and further stressed the importance of introducing Robotics and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects into the education system through the practical demonstration.

The presentation delivered by Dr Ashitey was one of two public talks conducted by international speakers organised by the Perbadanan TAIB specifically for Ihtifal TAIB. With an effort to give back to the community, Perbadanan TAIB wanted to provide the public with experiences that would inspire, motivate and instil the notion of achieving one's goals.