Abu Dhabi Scales Up A2RL STEM Contest, Drawing 140 Students from Across the UAE

Post by : Bianca Suleiman

The Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), through its Smart and Autonomous Systems Council, is staging the second Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League (A2RL) STEM Competition as part of Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week. The nationwide programme is designed to convert theoretical STEM education into practical experience in robotics, machine learning and autonomous technologies.

This edition features 140 participants from across the UAE — 72 high school pupils and 68 university students — representing all seven emirates, including Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. The scale of participation underlines ATRC’s strategic push for wider, more inclusive STEM engagement nationwide.

Competitors will programme 1/18th-scale AWS DeepRacer autonomous vehicles, gaining direct exposure to coding, cloud-based modelling and reinforcement learning. Student teams of five to seven will compete in separate high school and university leagues, evaluated on their ability to design, train and optimise autonomous driving models.

Participating schools include Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, Sabis International Schools, ADNOC Schools and Applied Technology High School. University entrants feature Khalifa University, NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE University, American University of Sharjah, Heriot-Watt University Dubai and Ajman University among others.

In October, teams will receive online instruction in Cloud Foundations, Python and machine learning before attending hands-on workshops in Abu Dhabi in early November. The competition culminates on 15 November 2025 at ATRC Headquarters on Yas Island, where finalists will be tested in time trials, obstacle avoidance exercises and head-to-bot races.

Since its 2024 launch, A2RL’s STEM initiative has rapidly expanded its reach. The inaugural event involved ten institutions and concluded with Heriot-Watt University taking first place. This year’s broader cohort reflects a concerted effort to build a domestic talent pipeline for the UAE’s autonomous systems sector.