From Bronze To Silver, Bangladeshi Youth Shines On Global Robotics Stage
Afia Steers Cyber Squad To WRO Silver
- Afia Humayra led robotics team Cyber Squad to consecutive international milestones, advancing from bronze in 2024 to silver in 2025 at WRO
- The team secured ninth place in the Future Innovators Junior category during the international finals held at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
- Transitioning beyond competitive robotics, the college student trains young enthusiasts in hands-on hardware dev
DHAKA: Driven by applied robotics engineering, computer code, and complex hardware problem-solving, Afia Humayra, a student of Bir Shreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Public College, has established an international footprint for Bangladesh in competitive robotics. Institutional performance records verified these achievements on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Within a single year, she led her squad to advance from a bronze to a silver medal at the World Robot Olympiad (WRO).
Serving as the technical leader of Cyber Squad, Afia registered back-to-back international victories at the WRO. The team first secured a bronze medal in the Future Innovators category at the 2024 WRO finals in Izmir, Türkiye, which featured 560 teams across 87 countries. That year, Bangladesh secured two bronzes, with the second won by Change Makers 2024 under Sadia Anjum Pushpa. The presence of female captains leading both winning contingents highlighted the emerging leadership role of women in engineering and technological disciplines.
Afia consolidated this trajectory in 2025 by winning gold in the Junior group of the Future Innovators category at the national round, which drew around 200 participants. Cyber Squad subsequently represented Bangladesh at the WRO 2025 international final, held from Wednesday, November 26 to Friday, November 28, at the Marina Bay Sands Expo in Singapore. Competing against delegations representing more than 100 countries, the team ranked ninth in the Junior group, securing the silver medal.
Reflecting on the milestone, Afia acknowledged the support of her family alongside the institutional financial sponsorship extended by Mutual Trust Bank. She noted that sustained capital investments and technical backing from domestic financial institutions remain vital to nurture high-caliber innovators capable of maintaining competitive technological capabilities globally.
Extending her domain beyond competitive arenas, Afia has stepped into engineering instruction for junior cohorts. She recently functioned as a technical mentor at "ROBOGENESIS: Igniting the Future of Robotics," a day-long training symposium organized jointly by CRAB and Wings Foundation Bangladesh. During the event, she provided hands-on guidance on core microcontroller programming, electronic sensor integration, and practical mechanical assemblies, helping build baseline competencies for the country’s future automation landscape.
//DBTech/SBN/NAP/MIST//
