11-member team heading to Panama for global robotics tournament

An 11- member Jamaican team comprising eight students and three coaches will leave Jamaica for Panama, where they will compete in the 2025 FIRST Global Robotics Challenge that will take place in Panama City from October 29 to November 1.

Often referred to as the ‘Robotics Olympics’, this event pits high school teams from more than 190 countries – representing diverse backgrounds, languages, religions, and cultures – against each other as they compete in an international robotics challenge.

Panama City will host the ninth annual tournament at the Panama Convention Center.

Since June, high school students from across Jamaica have participated in an intensive FIRST Global “boot camp” to prepare for the competition and represent their schools and country with pride. This year’s team includes students from Campion College, Hillel Academy, Immaculate Conception High School, Kingston College, and Mannings School.

The delegation also includes two coaches, one chaperone, and two representatives from the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (USA), Inc (UJAA).

The Jamaican team members are Zara Sterling, Immaculate Conception High School; Rithvik Gogineni, Campion College; Matthew Williams, Campion College; Joelle Wright, Hillel Academy/St Andrew High; Keandra Genius, Immaculate Conception; Marc-Anthony Eaton (coach), Jamaica College; Orville Daley (coach), Jamaica College; Gavin Samuels (coach), Jamaica College; Annastazia Chin, chaperone, Immaculate Conception; as well as additional students Daniel Thomas, Kingston College; Noah Bayley-Hay, Hillel Academy; and Jayden Hinds, Mannings.

Since its inception in 2017, Team Jamaica Robotics has benefited from the full support and sponsorship of the UJAA and its member alumni associations across the diaspora.

Through ongoing partnerships, the UJAA seeks to ensure that every student – regardless of economic background – can learn, collaborate, and proudly represent the country in keeping with the true spirit of FIRST Global, according to the president of the UJAA, Donovan Wilson.

INSPIRATION FOR CREATIVITY, UNITY

The competition is designed to inspire students to apply creativity, teamwork, and critical thinking as they design and build a robot from a standard kit of parts. Each year’s challenge draws from the 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering identified by the National Academies of Engineering in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. The 2025 game, Eco Equilibrium, challenges teams to develop innovative solutions using emerging technologies to explore, understand, and preserve biodiversity in their nations.

Jamaica’s nine-member team to the Robotics Olympics in Athens, Greece, from September 26-29 last year, mined a bronze medal. The team was awarded the Dr Mae Jemison Bronze for international unity.

The award was made to the team that emulated the best qualities of First Global by breaking down barriers, demonstrating gracious professionalism, and building bridges with fellow teams.

The Jamaican team also won the Social Media Challenge Award, given to teams that have participated in a majority of online social media challenges hosted throughout the season as well as the award for best storytelling video that fulfilled the guidelines in creating an impactful team-profile video.

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY

Last year, overall, the Jamaican team finished 58th out of the 190 countries that participated in the Robotics Olympics.

According to Wilson, “The Global Robotics Olympics offers our students a unique opportunity to collaborate with peers from around the world, to innovate together, and to represent Jamaica with pride. Each year, our team proves that Jamaica is ‘likkle but tallawah’ – bringing home at least one of the 19 awards of excellence presented annually.”

In 2023, the 10-member Jamaican Robotics team won the Kathrine Johnson Award for engineering documentation named for African-American Katherine Johnson, dubbed the human computer, who helped to calculate aeronautics that helped guide the return of astronauts John Glen and Alan Shepard in their return to Earth from space.

The award was given to the team that best demonstrated the journey they took in building their robot. The Jamaicans beat out 10 other teams to win that gold.

The UJAA has been the primary sponsor since the FIRST Global Challenge (FGC) began in 2017. The union of associations contends that the programme provides Jamaican students with the expertise and exposure to a once-in-a-lifetime experience that not only allows them to engage with students from across the globe but combines their accomplishments with encouragement and pride as true ambassadors of Jamaica for Jamaicans globally.

“This combination of skills is what our children need to help us solve global problems. This competition provides life-changing experiences,” said Wilson.

“Since the inception of this annual event in 2017, the UJAA has been committed to ensuring that our students are prepared to not just participate in this Robotics Olympic but also to enjoy the experience of being ambassadors on the world stage.”