Fontana Unified High School Senior’s Passion for Robotics and Coding Leads to World Robotics Olympiad Qualification

Summit High School senior Imran Chaudhery’s passion for robotics has not only taught him important life skills, lessons and shaped his goals for the future, but taken him around the world – with his latest stop coming at the 2023 World Robotics Olympiad in Panama.

Chaudhery was first drawn to robotics in sixth grade when his mom put him in an afterschool robotics program at Wayne Ruble Middle School. He began to learn the basics of robotics and looked to his older seventh- and eighth-grade teammates to gain a better understanding of how the principles they were learning were carried out. Chaudhery continued to grow his skills through competitions with the team and soon took on more leadership and programmer roles.

“The competitions I’ve participated in have really impacted my mentality,” Chaudhery said. “I take every competition as a learning opportunity so I can continue to improve on my skills. I have also learned to procrastinate a lot less and to have more of a growth mindset in everything that I do.”

Chaudhery joined a robotics team outside of school and began earning team victories at numerous competitions. He earned a spot in the World Robotics Olympiad Friendship Tournament in Denmark in 2019 and again this September. Chaudhery and his teammates found themselves representing America again at the 2023 World Robotics Olympiad, which was held in November.

“It was amazing to see and learn about different cultures and backgrounds at the World Robotics Olympiad,” Chaudhery said. “You get to become friends and compete with people from all over the world and see how different people live their lives.”

Chaudhery extends his love of robotics to teaching, as he coaches elementary students throughout Upland on the basics of coding and robotics. He is also involved in activities at Summit High School, serving as president of the STEM club and vice president of the school’s SkillsUSA chapter, and an avid student in the Mechatronics career technical education pathway, where students learn electrical and mechanical engineering principles fundamental to the creation of robotic and automated systems.

“Imran is a phenomenal student who takes on challenges from tough courses and motivates other students in class,” Summit High STEM advisor and Mechatronics teacher Marco Torres said. “He is very well-rounded and displays exceptional skills both on the software and hardware side of robotics. I know he’s going to go on to do incredible things after he graduates.”

Chaudhery, who currently applying to colleges – including many California State and University of California institutions – said he hopes to pursue a degree in either cybersecurity or computer science with a push toward software engineering. 

“Imran is the perfect example of the excellence that is prevalent throughout Fontana Unified School District,” Fontana Unified Superintendent Miki R. Inbody said. “We are so proud of everything that he has accomplished and how he has represented the United States and Fontana Unified at the World Robotics Olympiad.”