Dominican students shine at 2024 FIRST Global “Robotics Olympics” Challenge

Dominica’s young innovators have made their mark on the global stage at the 2024 FIRST Global “Robotics Olympics” Challenge in Greece. The team, consisting of five students—Amado Benjamin, Cadel Casimir, Christiana Walsh, Kenilee Baron, and Xaria Timothy—demonstrated exceptional skill and teamwork, ranking 3rd in the OECS and placing in the top 73% of countries worldwide.

The competition, held from September 26th to 29th, brought together over 190 countries in a series of team-based robotics challenges designed to test technical abilities, problem-solving skills, and collaboration. The Dominican contingent, though small in number, showcased their innovative spirit with a mobile robot capable of picking up and distributing basketball-like objects to score points. Their robot’s advanced features included magnetic switches, continuous rotation servomechanisms, and encoders, which helped the team score over 120 points in one of their matches.

The team, led by mentor Kodie Jean-Jacques and assistant mentor Odessa Dinnard, also included other  young innovators from various national secondary schools and the Dominica State College. These students who study subjects such as Information Technology, Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, and more, are among the most committed in their academic disciplines.

Though only five students travelled to Greece, namely: Amado Benjamin, Cadel Casimir, Christiana Walsh, Kenilee Baron, and Xaria Timothy, the team consists of several other young innovators including Jaeden Guiste, Bernisha Moreau, Celina Pinard, Dianka George, Johnpaul Itodo, Phoenix Jacques, and Robert Guiste Jr.

FIRST Global, the host organization, aims to inspire leadership and innovation in youth through STEM education, fostering cross-cultural communication and cooperation. This year’s event provided an excellent opportunity for Dominican students to join forces with peers from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and religions, collectively tackling global challenges and inventing solutions to improve quality of life.

The Dominican team expressed gratitude to their sponsors, including the Ministry of Education, International Trading Standard (ITS) Limited, The National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC), 767.Dev, The Pemberton Foundation, Corp EFF Insurance Company Ltd., The National Cooperative Credit Union, Bel Lavi Villa, Flow Dominica, Jaydees Naturals, and Helena’s Photo Studio.