At just five years old, Martiros Mina built his first robot. Now 10, the Egyptian fourth-grader is already an accomplished programmer, competing internationally, collecting awards and developing projects that combine technology with his interest in Egypt’s history.
Mina’s achievements recently earned him recognition from Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Raafat Hendy, who honoured the young programmer for his success in local and international programming and robotics competitions.
Martiros’ most recent achievement came this year, when he won a gold medal in an international Python programming competition organised by China. According to the ministry, his performance placed him among the top 2 percent of participants worldwide.
His work also goes beyond simply taking part in competitions. One of the projects he presented during his meeting with Hendy was a robot tour guide designed in the likeness of King Tutankhamun.
The project is intended to introduce visitors to Egyptian antiquities at the Egyptian Museum, bringing together two very different areas of interest: modern technology and ancient Egyptian history.
Hendy directed the ministry to allow Martiros to join the Robotics and Embedded Systems track of the Digital Egypt Cubs Initiative, despite the fact that he is below the programme’s minimum enrolment age.
The minister also presented Martiros with a laptop and several robotics kits, encouraging him to continue developing his ideas and turn them into projects with the potential for further development.
Martiros’ story comes as Egypt continues to expand efforts to introduce children to programming, artificial intelligence, robotics and other technology fields at an early age.
The Digital Egypt Cubs Initiative, launched during the 2022/23 academic year, offers specialised training in areas including robotics and embedded systems, artificial intelligence and data science, cybersecurity, web development and digital arts.
By May 2026, the ministry said that the Digital Egypt Marvels and Cubs initiatives had trained approximately 240,000 pupils across Egypt. In 2025 alone, around 70,000 primary-school students took part in the Marvels programme, while another 62,000 preparatory- and secondary-school students participated in the Cubs programme.
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