WITH technology constantly evolving, Guyana is picking up the pace as STEM Guyana held its third annual Robotics exhibition on Sunday, with the aim of urging even more Guyanese to become affiliated with the exhilarating world of science, technology and mathematics.

The event is part of the Guyana National Robotics League activities, which includes a five-week competition, where over forty teams from every region of Guyana will compete to build a robotic solution to any problem in the security sector.

However, despite the gloomy weather, hundreds were gathered at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre where First Lady Sandra Granger, in her address to the gathering, urged parents and potential sponsors to get on board with STEM Guyana to support the growing wave of young innovators.

“We have a lot of geniuses and it shows because, with team work, with the drive that our young people have shown at other competitions, they faced challenges but were able to overcome… they were able to work with teams from other countries and they were able to succeed, coming out among the top groups as a country but also winning the Albert Einstein award,” she stated.

Mrs. Granger further stated that one must keep up to date with technology to remain relevant and to learn new things, “These days, the world is a world of continuing education, so if you want to remain relevant you must keep identifying and learning about new technology and be open to everything technology has to offer.”

Also speaking at the event, co-founder of STEM Guyana, Karen Abrams, stated that the organisation aims to nurture the growth of Guyana’s future innovators and creators. She added that ‘geniuses’ are being discovered in all corners of the country and it is their goal to identify them and nurture their talents.

“We are looking for those young people who are interested, excited, thoughtful, creative… we want to make [a] difference in the lives of those young people,” she stated.
Additionally, Joachim Vogt, Tullow (Guyana) Country Manager, stated that the world is full of global problems, which need to be addressed and as such many of those problems can be solved with technology and STEM Guyana is a part of the solution through its brilliance and innovative spirit.

He further stated that Tullow’s business is centred on STEM education, so it is no surprise that Tullow is one of the major supporters of STEMGuyana.

The coach of Team Titan from the Greenwich Park Primary School on the East Bank Essequibo, Esha Persaud, stated that it is the team’s first time at the exhibition. She added that the team participated in the security challenge, where they built a mini tanker.
Persaud noted that the entire robotics initiative and STEM Guyana helped children in relation to reasoning and creativity. She added that it also assists in developing their mathematical skills as some level of mathematics is required in robotics.

The Guyana Chronicle spoke with two young geniuses, Malachi Hawk and Lucas Simpson, from the St. Roses High School. They spoke about the robots they were able to create with their robotics kits.

The youngsters, who created a solar-powered car and battle robots for the exhibition, stated that STEM Guyana has helped them to unlock a new creative side of themselves with mathematics and science.

Another young innovator, Taris Andries of the Fairview Robotics Team from the Fairview Primary School in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo, was one of the first winners of the grand giveaway at the exhibition.

Also, in attendance at the exhibition was Minister of Telecommunications, Ms. Kathy Huges, who donated a number of electronic tablets which were awarded to several of the young participants. Director of Youth, Ms. Leslyn Boyce was also in attendance.