10 years of the TME Education project – a decade of supporting technical education
In 2026, TME Education celebrates its 10th anniversary. The project, which began with activities conducted in Africa, has developed over a decade into an international initiative supporting technical education and promoting knowledge in electronics and new technologies.
From the beginning, our main goal was not to limit ourselves to providing equipment. Equally important was creating conditions where acquired knowledge can be used and passed on. Therefore, collaboration with local technological talents and specialists, who later became our ambassadors and tutors, became an important part of the project.
After ten years, we can proudly say that the project has expanded much more than we initially anticipated. At the same time, it evolved with the experiences and needs reported by individuals and institutions involved in its implementation.
A program that grows with local communities
One of the main principles of TME Education is adapting activities to the actual needs of individual communities. We do not want to impose a single, top-down prepared education model. We aim to support initiatives that are important to those working on-site.
Local ambassadors and tutors play a significant role in this. They know the conditions in which schools and other educational institutions operate, remain in direct contact with participants, and can identify areas where support will bring the greatest benefits.
This approach has led to the gradual expansion of the project’s scope over the past decade, with the program evolving alongside participants’ needs. In addition to basic electronics and programming, activities now include robotics, IoT, embedded systems, and artificial intelligence.
An important aspect of TME Education’s activities is also supporting young teams participating in international competitions and robotics contests. Under the guidance of our ambassadors, teams from various countries participate in events like the FIRST Global Challenge, AI for Good, and the PanAfrican Robotics Competition, earning medals and distinctions.
Today, the project involves 40 ambassadors and tutors operating in 24 African countries and India, with the total number of TME Education beneficiaries over ten years estimated at nearly 100,000 people.
Educational board – a practical tool for learning electronics
The project’s development also meant creating our own educational tools. One of them is the Educational Board – a kit based on the Arduino platform, designed for practical learning of electronics and programming.
The board includes popular electronic components and sensors, allowing participants to quickly start performing exercises and focus on understanding the principles of circuits and their programming.
The Arduino-based educational kit is also a good example of how the entire project develops. The next version of the kit was prepared using experiences gained during workshops conducted in African countries and feedback on the previous design, including input from the Lodz University of Technology.
Such experiences are particularly important to us. Solutions used in TME Education should not be created in isolation from the people who will use them. Feedback from participants and instructors allows us to develop and better adapt them to the conditions in which they are used, and it is worth noting that the educational board is an indispensable part of workshops for both beginner students in primary schools and more advanced users at universities and technical colleges.
Arduino Day – a joint initiative, local events
An important aspect of TME Education’s activities is also community-integrating events organized as part of Arduino Day. Over time, they have become an opportunity not only for learning programming or electronics but also for presenting personal projects, exchanging experiences, and integrating local communities interested in new technologies.
A good example of the scale of this initiative is Arduino Day 2026. Events organized by the TME Education community took place in over 20 countries and gathered a total of over 1,000 participants. The program included electronics, Arduino programming, robotics, IoT, embedded systems, artificial intelligence, and practical projects.
At the same time, each event could take a different form. Organizers prepared programs that matched local capabilities and participants’ interests – from beginner workshops, competitions, and project presentations, to hackathons, conferences with specialists, and more extensive technical classes.
This approach well reflects the philosophy of the entire program: a common goal does not have to mean the same way of acting everywhere, and the process of pursuing knowledge can be a wonderful adventure.
Ten years of joint development
The TME Education anniversary is primarily an opportunity for us to summarize the journey the project has taken since 2016. We are pleased with both its scale and the fact that the program has remained open to change throughout this time.
After ten years, TME Education remains a project based on knowledge transfer, practical learning, and collaboration with local communities and educational institutions. We want to continue supporting initiatives that allow young people to learn about electronics and new technologies, develop their own skills, and use them where they are most needed – in changing their everyday lives for the better.