by Curlan Campbell
- Team Grenada comprises all female STEM athletes from TAMCC
- Participating in 3-day robotics competition in Greece, under theme “Feeding the Future”
- FIRST Global Founder motivated participants to leverage robotics to fight global food insecurity crisis
The 2024 FIRST Global Challenge in Athens, Greece, marks the first time that Team Grenada Robotics Club is being represented by a team of talented all-girls STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) athletes from T A Marryshow Community College (TAMCC).
Dressed in traditional wear and waving the Grenada flag, Team Grenada participated in the opening ceremony Parade of Nations on Thursday, 26 September, featuring teams from over 190 countries.
Team Grenada comprises aspiring professionals astrophysicist Emma Hannah Chouk, mechanical or civil engineer Eva Marie Chouk, sustainable radiologist Therese Dowden Barclay, environmental attorney Elouise Mitchell-Goodings, and architect Keena Olliverre.
From 27–29 September the event will move to the Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus for 3 days of robotics competition, with world teams collaborating and competing under the theme “Feeding the Future.”
The theme challenge encourages participants to design and build a robot using a standard kit of parts, and manoeuvre the robot in a simulated world that emphasises the relationship between water, food, and energy systems, supporting a sustainable food system. Additionally, teams will take part in the Feeding the Future New Technology Experience to develop innovative solutions for a more resilient and equitable food system.
The 2024 FIRST Global Challenge opening ceremony held at the Panathenaic Stadium featured speeches from FIRST Global Founder Dean Kamen who motivated participants to leverage the use of robotics to fight the global food insecurity crisis.
“How do you make enough food to feed the world without impacting the environment in a negative way? Because we said, technology can change the issues of the past, of scarcity,” remarked Kamen. “What if there’s plenty of water in the world? It’s just not drinkable. Let’s create technology to make it drinkable. There’s plenty of land, if we can be more efficient in our farming, there’s all sorts of sunlight hitting us. Everybody can get energy without digging it out of the ground or moving it around or hoarding it. So the goal of first global is simple. We’re going to give all the kids around the world a couple of things, the tools to eliminate the scarcity that causes the fighting, but we’re going to give them, at an early age, a way to meet each other in a positive sporting atmosphere, and when they go back home there will stay connected.”
Speeches were also given by the Deputy Minister of Digital Governance Konstantinos Kyranakis, as well as a cultural performance by the ΑΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΠΟΡΙΑ dance group.
Assistant Lecturer at TAMCC’s Electronics Department Clement Commodore accompanied the team which worked diligently throughout the year to make the robotics programme better, and was also said to have developed a website this year, aiming for it to become a prominent platform for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education nationwide. “The team wasn’t chosen solely because we wanted an all-girls team. These students had demonstrated promise in robotics, and they had been consistent,” Commodore said. “It just happened that the selected team turned out to be all girls. We believe in their capabilities and expect great things from them in this year’s challenge.”
Interesting to note that all five girls are from one secondary school in St. George.Congratulations ladies! We’re proud of you.