Woodline Branding Solutions came on board as a sponsor for the recently held Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge, where South African and other African students and learners put their Mars rover prototypes to the test on 19 September 2026, taking part in a simulated mission to Mars at South African National Space Agency (SANSA) site in Hartebeeshoek.
As part of the Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge, the young engineers tackled the challenging ‘Mars Yard’ obstacle course, putting their rover designs, problem-solving skills and teamwork to the test.
Participants tackled the challenging Traversal and AI Autonomous Missions, navigating uneven terrain while remotely operating their robots from Command Stations positioned at the front of the competition field. The Command Stations / gazebos have been sponsored by Woodline Branding Solutions for the past three years, supporting the competition’s continued development and providing teams with dedicated spaces from which to operate their rovers.
‘Woodline Branding Solutions came on board as a sponsor of the Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge because we believe in supporting innovation, education and the development of future talent across Africa. As a company, we recognise the importance of giving students opportunities to apply their technical knowledge, think creatively and develop practical problem-solving skills,’ said Woodline’s Business Unit Manager Loura du Toit.
‘The Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge provides an exciting platform for students to explore robotics, engineering and technology while collaborating with like-minded individuals from across the continent. We are proud to support an initiative that encourages young people to push boundaries, embrace innovation and develop the skills that will help shape the future.
‘For Woodline Branding, this sponsorship is about more than supporting a competition; it is about investing in the next generation of African innovators and contributing to opportunities that inspire learning, teamwork and technological advancement.’
According to Basia Nasiorowska, founder and organiser of the Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge since 2024, the 2026 Mars Stage Final demonstrated the importance of providing students and learners with opportunities to gain hands-on experience in robotics, engineering and innovation.
She said the commitment of the participants was evident in the effort they made to attend the competition, with teams travelling from Kenya and Zimbabwe, as well as from Cape Town, Durban and other remote parts of South Africa, to take part in the final.
Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge is a volunteer-led annual robotics competition open to students and learners from universities, colleges, and high schools across South Africa and other African countries. Participants receive free mentoring and guidance from the organisers on designing and building a Mars rover prototype. The competition runs for approximately five months and is structured to provide teams with expert guidance and support throughout the process.
Around 120 young participants from South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe, representing 18 teams, competed in the Mars Stage Final of the Cars4Mars African Rover Challenge 2026. They were selected as finalists from an initial field of 100 teams representing 11 African countries that entered the competition on 1 May 2026.
Looking ahead, Cars4Mars aims to reach more young people across Africa and expose them to the possibilities of careers and opportunities in space technology, robotics, automation, artificial intelligence, and other emerging fields. Beyond technical knowledge, the programme helps participants develop valuable skills that are relevant to both current and future workplaces, including project management, teamwork and communication, time management, forward planning and failure prevention, creative thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
Register for the 2027 edition.
WOODLINE BRANDING SOLUTIONS
+27 11 826 4033
www.woodlinebranding.com
