Bjorn WiedowPhoto: Contributed
Bjorn WiedowPhoto: Contributed

Movers and shakers

Wetumwene Shikage
Bjorn Wiedow has always been interested in design, engineering and what information technology (IT) and robotics can do for us. He chased this dream and is now the co-founder of a RobotSchool in Windhoek. He teaches young learners coding and engages with them to educate them on technical development.



Education

Wiedow completed his primary and secondary education in Windhoek. He obtained an industrial design degree from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. “I do have to say, I learnt as much from messing around in garages throughout my younger years as I did through academic education,” he said.

He added that the academic education he received helped to channel and focus his potential.

Robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT) were still in their infancy when he dived into the field, he said. Prior to this, Wiedow said he could not have imagined being a co-founder of a RobotSchool “where we teach kids to code and build robots, machines and harness technology”.

He said the best thing about his job is never having to do the same thing twice. “Just last week, I was working out how we could promote RobotSchool. We created stickers for my beloved old-timer car, the Morris Minor, which informed people about the RobotSchool,” he said.

Additionally, he said seeing the faces of kids go from confusion to understanding as they start to code and create something that works as a robot is amazing to see.

Being an entrepreneur, Wiedow added that it is not easy to be your own boss, but is hugely rewarding to know that you are accomplishing something, or that what you have envisioned has become a reality.

“You need to be resilient, creative and focused in all aspects of the business. Any one thing that may seem insignificant can trip you up in the long run. Working with learners as young as four all the way up to 15 created special challenges and gives me great respect for teachers,” he said.

The entrepreneur said starting and refining a new venture gives him the opportunity to find himself doing a little bit of everything, from learning how to do business accounting and marketing to creating a new and exciting curriculum. He enjoys developing and testing new ideas for the innovative RobotSchool curriculum, he added.

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Namibian Sun 2024-07-27

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Currie Cup: NovaVit Griffons 45 vs 47 Toyota Cheetahs XV Katima Mulilo: 12° | 33° Rundu: 11° | 31° Eenhana: 11° | 33° Oshakati: 12° | 30° Ruacana: 12° | 31° Tsumeb: 14° | 27° Otjiwarongo: 9° | 26° Omaruru: 9° | 27° Windhoek: 8° | 24° Gobabis: 5° | 23° Henties Bay: 11° | 16° Swakopmund: 12° | 15° Walvis Bay: 11° | 20° Rehoboth: 5° | 22° Mariental: 5° | 19° Keetmanshoop: 4° | 16° Aranos: 5° | 20° Lüderitz: 10° | 20° Ariamsvlei: 6° | 14° Oranjemund: 10° | 15° Luanda: 19° | 21° Gaborone: 8° | 23° Lubumbashi: 12° | 31° Mbabane: 10° | 27° Maseru: 1° | 11° Antananarivo: 10° | 25° Lilongwe: 15° | 29° Maputo: 18° | 33° Windhoek: 8° | 24° Cape Town: 9° | 13° Durban: 14° | 20° Johannesburg: 8° | 16° Dar es Salaam: 21° | 31° Lusaka: 16° | 31° Harare: 14° | 28° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.47 | EUR to NAD 19.84 | CNY to NAD 2.52 | USD to NAD 18.28 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.3 | EGP to NAD 0.37 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.69 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.22 | RUB to NAD 0.21 | INR to NAD 0.22 | USD to DZD 134.1 | USD to AOA 872.64 | USD to BWP 13.56 | USD to EGP 48.29 | USD to KES 130.48 | USD to NGN 1598.89 | USD to ZAR 18.31 | USD to ZMW 26.1 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1807.67 Up +1.81% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13660.65 Up +0.14% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 29090.57 Down -0.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9392.07 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 387.02/OZ UP +0.98% | Copper US$ 4.11/lb DOWN -0.001 | Zinc US$ 2 678.50/T DOWN -0.29% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 80.81/BBP DOWN -0.022 | Platinum US$ 935.05/OZ UP +0.34% Sport results: Currie Cup: NovaVit Griffons 45 vs 47 Toyota Cheetahs XV Weather: Katima Mulilo: 12° | 33° Rundu: 11° | 31° Eenhana: 11° | 33° Oshakati: 12° | 30° Ruacana: 12° | 31° Tsumeb: 14° | 27° Otjiwarongo: 9° | 26° Omaruru: 9° | 27° Windhoek: 8° | 24° Gobabis: 5° | 23° Henties Bay: 11° | 16° Swakopmund: 12° | 15° Walvis Bay: 11° | 20° Rehoboth: 5° | 22° Mariental: 5° | 19° Keetmanshoop: 4° | 16° Aranos: 5° | 20° Lüderitz: 10° | 20° Ariamsvlei: 6° | 14° Oranjemund: 10° | 15° Luanda: 19° | 21° Gaborone: 8° | 23° Lubumbashi: 12° | 31° Mbabane: 10° | 27° Maseru: 1° | 11° Antananarivo: 10° | 25° Lilongwe: 15° | 29° Maputo: 18° | 33° Windhoek: 8° | 24° Cape Town: 9° | 13° Durban: 14° | 20° Johannesburg: 8° | 16° Dar es Salaam: 21° | 31° Lusaka: 16° | 31° Harare: 14° | 28° Economic Indicators: Currency: GBP to NAD 23.47 | EUR to NAD 19.84 | CNY to NAD 2.52 | USD to NAD 18.28 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.3 | EGP to NAD 0.37 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.69 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.22 | RUB to NAD 0.21 | INR to NAD 0.22 | USD to DZD 134.1 | USD to AOA 872.64 | USD to BWP 13.56 | USD to EGP 48.29 | USD to KES 130.48 | USD to NGN 1598.89 | USD to ZAR 18.31 | USD to ZMW 26.1 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index Same 0 | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1807.67 Up +1.81% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13660.65 Up +0.14% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 29090.57 Down -0.36% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9392.07 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 387.02/OZ UP +0.98% | Copper US$ 4.11/lb DOWN -0.001 | Zinc US$ 2 678.50/T DOWN -0.29% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 80.81/BBP DOWN -0.022 | Platinum US$ 935.05/OZ UP +0.34%