–secures gold, silver and bronze medals

GUYANA’S skills in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) were showcased during the International Youth Robotics Competition (IYRC), held virtually in South Korea.

Though the robotics team was restricted by financial constraints, participation in the virtual competition was guaranteed as a result of timely support from the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GTT) Company.

Owing to support from GTT, the STEM Guyana Organisation was able to prepare two senior teams, comprising persons ages 13 to 18 years, and three junior teams, which included persons ages seven to 12 years, to compete against teams from 71 countries.

According to STEM Guyana, the three junior teams secured gold, silver and bronze, while the two senior teams copped bronze medals.

“Competition was stiff as Team Transformers which included Tushaant Sanichara, Rashad Lancaster, Jonathan Lewis, Andrew Hooper and Ethan Rosine shared the gold medal with Thailand, Russia and India,” STEM related.

The 2021 challenge required junior and senior teams to build a competition robot under the vague theme of “Robot My Friend.”

This required team members to complete an extraordinary research and ideation process to try to innovate robot ideas which would make their submissions globally competitive.

The gold medal team created a robot which could play soccer with the team members and which could also complete chores like bringing medication to patients with limited mobility.

Further, Team Mighty Jaguars with On Beaton, Elijah Rosine, Mahir Rajkumar, Eva Boodie and Jeanpaul Applewhite Hercules shared the silver medal with eight other teams in the junior category, while Team Dominators, which comprised Joshua Doris, Lenisha McAlmont, Zaki Ishmael, Jayden Robin, and Daniel Lewis shared the bronze medal.

Bringing home bronze medals in the senior category were Team Next Gen, which included Riya Balkarran, Haresh Pooran, David Balkarran, Sanella Ballarmine and JoanAnn McCurdy, and Team Legendary, which comprised Nailah Asma Fordyce, Lucas Simpson, Michael Blake and Angel De Mendonca.

For the fifth year, teams were prepared for global competition by the STEM Guyana organisation, which has a working robotics lab at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The current laboratory is sponsored by the Department of Youth and the Office of the Prime Minister, which ensures a secure location and internet connectivity for the organisation’s work.

The International Youth Robot Competition is an annual youth competition in robotics, programming, and digital technologies, organised by the International Youth Robot Association (IYRA). Previous competitions were held in Korea, Thailand, China, and Malaysia.

The annual event usually facilitates 28 states, but it was recently expanded to include teams from North America and South America. This was the second year Guyana participated.
Currently, Guyana is fielding another senior team for the First Global Robotics competition of 175 countries globally.

Team Guyana 2021 is presently tracking ninth place out of 175 teams, with opportunities to raise its ranking before the end of the competition in October. Team Guyana won the “gold Albert Einstein medal” in 2019.